Yin and Yang
by Naisho
Summary: The Shaman fight was reinstated months after Hao's death and Yoh is sensing things he doesn't want to feel.
1. Off to America!

My first Mankin fic so criticize all you want (especially with the OOCness!!!!). I haven't watched all the episodes of the said series but…well…I know what happens (CRAAAAPPPPP!!!!!! I didn't even catch episode 63!!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to see HAOOOOOO!!!!!)

Okay, so I _am_ a Hao Asakura fan. At first, I didn't quite like him because my friends said he was "a big meanie" (that's what I refer to) and they already know the series and I haven't watched it at all. They say he was the freakin' bad guy you would absolutely hate. Then, I took this quiz in quizilla.com (duh!) about which Shaman character you are and it ALL turned out to be HAO!!!! And I kept saying to myself again and again "HOW in the world did I get HAOOOOO?!?!?!?!" like a crazy lunatic (no, it went like this "_HAO_ in the world did I get _HOW_??????). I haven't watched the series yet and had only known through the taunts and discriminations of my friends so…WHY DID I GET HIM??????? I DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM!!!! (At that time that was true.)

Oh shoot…I'm talking about crap here. Anyway, on with the story!!!

If you're a Yoh fan and wouldn't want to see him get bullied then, read this garbage and flame me. Yup, you heard me right, _flame me. I am the author who __adores flames._

Also, I'm a sucker for hanging endings, endings with a twist and MORBIDSM. I _love_ making morose stories.

So, here guys, you are warned. But I still encourage you to read (even if it sucks) so that you could flame me in the end ^_^

**Disclaimer: I have different types of disclaimer and the worst I've made is something with a touch of the Old English language (you can refer to my other stories if you want). You'll see a different one on each chapter depending on how creative I feel. So, to everyone out there, HIROYUKI TAKEI OWNS SHAMAN KING (if you want to count in the publishers and those others, you can)!!!! Got that or do I have to repeat????? *looks at readers with an Anna-style stare***

Take note: It means change scene (or next day) or something like that, if you see this:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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**YIN AND YANG**

By: Naisho

**CHAPTER ONE**

**            _Off to America!_**

The sound of the Oracle bell rang through the Asakura residence like an electronic alarm clock. But, unlike alarm clocks, this one had the ability to wake up the shaman known as Asakura Yoh.

The said shaman sat up and felt for the source of the sound around him. His power spirit, Amidamaru, materialized out of thin air beside his master. "Yoh-dono, it's the Oracle bell. You placed it near harusame." Said the samurai, tapping the young boy on the shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me, Amidamaru." The dark-haired shaman put on his carefree grin and stood up, rubbing the back of his head.

"No problem, Yoh-dono." The ghost smiled back and floated beside the shaman he served.

Yoh approached the sword and quickly sat cross-legged beside it, his shoulders slacking. He grabbed the orange device and stared at it with his dark-colored eyes. Then the lights on his room turned on, causing him to involuntarily shade his eyes with his hand. "Anna." He muttered, almost mumbling, as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light.

His blonde fiancée approached in her yukata, "The Oracle bell. What does it say?" she asked in her usual strict voice.

"'The Seirei no Ou has come to a conclusion.'" Yoh read slowly like a child or like a teacher talking to a nursery or kinder student. "'The Shaman Fight will resume as before from the start. All the teams will remain and all their wins will be cancelled. The whole tournament shall start from the very beginning. Shamans prepare. Two months from now, the first fight will start. Everyone is expected to be at Patch village by that time.'" He ended, sighing. His eyes turned to the itako. He sweat dropped.

Anna Kyouyama raised both of her eye brows. "You know what that means, Yoh."

"I was afraid of this…." He whispered to himself as his eye flinched.

"Your training starts tomorrow. 100 kilometers, of course, with 200-hudred pound weights then 500 sit-ups and same with the push-ups; I'll tell you the rest of your _new_ training program tomorrow. You've been slacking since the end of the Shaman Fight and with that kind of strength; you have no chance of becoming the Shaman King." She crossed her arms.

"But Anna!!!!" he whined, "That's more than twice from last time!!!!!!" but the glare of the young itako stopped him from complaining more. He nodded helplessly with tears streaming from his eyes.

Amidamaru descended down to Yoh's level. "Yoh-dono, I regret not being able to help you in this type of situation."

Anna ignored the whimpers of the two and turned her back at them. She walked away but stopped one step before the door. She rested one of her hands on the frame and said, "Start sleeping now or you'll regret it tomorrow." She closed the door behind her, leaving to her room.

"Hai, hai." Yoh nodded, going back to his futon and slipping into the warmth of his thick blanket. In no time, the shaman was sound asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ohayo, Yoh-kun, Anna-san." Manta greeted as he entered the Asakura residence, but there was no one there to greet him back. Only silence and solidarity reigned inside the usually lively house. He entered; eyes full of surprise and intrigue.

"Yoh-kun? Anna-san? Amidamaru?" he asked, taking a peek in the room where they usually dine. He went and sat in his standard place in that room but it changed nothing.

"I wonder what happened to Yoh-kun and the others." He muttered and at that same time, a pink head popped from behind the screen door. "Tamao!!!" Manta exclaimed. Never was he so glad to see Tamao in all his life.

"Oh, Manta? What are you doing here? Yoh-sama and the others are outside. Anna-san is training Yoh-sama again because the Shaman Fight has started once again." She explained, quickly running inside then to the kitchen. She grabbed a glass and poured it with cold water. The dwarfish young blonde needed only common sense to know whom that glass was for.

Manta stood up, "I'll come with you." He pulled his backpack closer to his back and looked at Tamao with an expectant smile.

Tamao blinked, "Uh…sure."

"NANDA'TO?!?!?!?!?!?!" the voice of the Chinese shaman resonated from the backyard.

"Why?" Anna replied back in her cold voice, "Do you have a problem with it?" she stared.

Ren Tao scowled and started to shake his head but Yoh and Faust zoomed beside him and forced his head to nod.

Tamao and Manta appeared but everyone failed to notice their presence.

"Good." The itako waved a piece of paper in front of the raven-haired boy. "Buy these from the market. Be back in exactly twenty minutes or…" she gave him her meanest and most scary look. "Now go!"

But Ren stood there with Yoh putting the paper in his hand. "What about the money?" he asked, grumbling and grinding his teeth to control the outburst of his temper.

"You're rich. Go and buy that stuff right now before I get mad." She replied, turning her back at Ren.

"WHAAAATTT~?!?!?!?!?!?!" Ren yelled, struggling from the clutches of Yoh and Faust, who were trying to stop him from attacking Anna. "Yoh should be the one doing this! Not me!" he shouted.

"Because Yoh is gonna train for the Shaman Fight." Anna replied simply, "Go get those now. You're running out of time. I told you to be back in twenty minutes and you've already wasted three."

"Why you~!!!"

"Trust me, Ren. You're luckier to be doing this. You don't know how angry Anna can be." Yoh muttered, pushing Ren's elbow away from his face.

Faust nodded, trying to keep Ren still. "I guess from the weeks you've been staying here, you haven't seen Anna-san get really angry."

Then Anna stopped, turned around and approached Ren.

"Anna." Yoh said. All three of them remained still, especially Ren.

Then, **THWACKKK!!!!**

Ren Tao, yes, the one and only Ren Tao got hit by the itako's infamous slap, leaving a glowing red mark on his face. Face vaulted, the Chinese shaman stood there as if frozen by time.

"BOCCHAMAAAA!!!!" Bason exclaimed in horror.

"Uh…Anna-san, the water you asked for." Tamao gave the glass to the itako who drank it in one gulp.

"Give me one more." Anna ordered as pink-haired girl turned back to the house.

"Manta!" Yoh greeted.

Manta smiled and gave a wave to his friend, "Yoh-kun, Tamao said the Shaman Fight is reinstated."

"So, Manta, since you're here already then you could go with that guy over there to the market. Be sure to be back in _exactly fifteen minutes." Anna pointed to Ren then approached Yoh. "Yoh and I will go back to training." She pulled the collar of Yoh's white shirt, dragging the owner along with her._

"But-!" the smart, yet extremely small blonde, cut but he knew it was useless. He turned to Ren and pushed him outside, "Let's go before the 'queen of darkness' comes back and devours us." He commented sarcastically.

"Here's your change!" greeted the male salesperson, giving Ren his groceries. "Say hi to your girlfriend for me!" He said as though out of breath. He faced his back at the customer, stifling obvious laughter.

"My girlfriend????" The Chinese shaman stared then turned around. He can feel numerous eyes looking at him as he passed by. "What the heck is the problem with these people?!" he whispered just enough for Manta to hear.

Manta shrugged his shoulders and pushed open the glass door of the store, "I don't know. We better get back soon. Anna might get angrier." As soon as the door behind them closed, the whole market burst into laughter. The small blonde glanced at the shop as he tried to keep up with the sudden increase of Ren's velocity.

"I wonder…what's the problem with those people? They're not laughing at us, are they?" said the smart lad, looking up at the Chinese shaman for the first time since they left Yoh and Anna. He finally discovered what the people in the market were laughing about.

"Why ask me?!" Ren snapped back but his companion's giggles reached his ears. He stopped and looked down. "Now…" he started, "What is _your problem?!" he demanded. He couldn't take it anymore. People around him were snickering as they passed; if only he could, he would've beaten up those folks to death._

Manta pointed at his face. "Anna." He managed to say in between his laughs, "Face." He added, holding his stomach, "Look!" he now pointed to the glass window beside them, falling on his knees.

Irritated, the pale-eyed boy looked at his reflection. His jaw-dropped…

"See?" Manta stood up, wiping tears from his eyes.

"THAT BITCH~!!!!" Ren screamed, "Her slap marked on my face!!!!!"

The smaller boy shook his head, "Don't let Anna hear you say that or you'll be adding another one to that!" he warned, gaining his composure back.

But the younger – but fortunately, taller – boy wasn't listening to him. "Damn that – that – that witch!!!!!" he cursed, waving the bag of groceries in front of him. "Of course, I have to admit that her slap hurt much but she didn't have to do that BECAUSE in the first place, I'm NOT one of her servants!!!!"

"Uh…Ren?" Manta called the shaman's attention, "Everyone is a servant in Anna's eyes." He explained; sweat dropped.

"K'SO!!!!!" he cursed once more, creating more attention towards him. He punched the air with the plastic bag in his hands.

At that instant, all their groceries went flying out of the bag, scattering here and there.

And on the next second, both Manta and Ren were on their knees picking up the spilled goods.

"Ren, now look what you did! Anna's gonna kill us!!!" Manta whined.

"I'll handle that!" Ren answered back.

_Let's see you do that! You really don't know how Anna is!_

"What took you so long?!" Anna sneered, her arms crossed.

"Welcome back, Bocchama!" Bason greeted cheerfully despite the fact that Anna's itako beads were binding and stopping him from doing anything at all.

The two stuttered, still with the groceries in their arms. Manta elbowed Ren. "I thought you said you'll handle this?!" he whispered but the Chinese shaman couldn't say anything in return.

"I told you to get back in twenty minutes!!!! And you're ten seconds late!!!!" she demanded.

"What?! Just ten seconds late?! How pathetic!!!!" Ren blurted out but he soon regretted it when another slap came down his face.

"Put those in the kitchen then start cleaning the bathrooms." She ordered, going upstairs.

Manta side glanced at Ren. "Now you know you can't defy Anna."

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"Tadaima!" Yoh exclaimed in the most cheerful voice he can produce at that hour.

"Have you finished your laps?" Anna appeared in front of her fiancé, still with the same look in her eyes.

Yoh nodded, taking off his wooden sandals.

"Your push-ups? Sit-ups?"

"Hai, Anna! I've finished the whole training program already." He answered, taking off the weights on his wrists and ankles.

"Good. Only two weeks before the start of the Shaman Fight and we're leaving tomorrow." She explained, a small smile entering her lips.

Yoh grinned back.

"YOH-DANNA!!!!!!" shouted a familiar voice. It was no other than Umemiya Ryunosuke a.k.a Bokuto no Ryu. He quickly jumped beside Yoh and slung his arm across his shoulders, leaning on him.

"Yoh! Hisashi buri dane!" greeted the voice of the blue-haired Ainu as he bounded up to Yoh and copied Ryu's gesture.

"Hisashi buri, origami!!!!!" Chocolove appeared after the two, jumping on Yoh's back.

"You're jokes still stink, Chocolove!!!" Horo horo snapped at the African-looking American.

"Jokes? Stink?" he repeated then flashed a cup of coffee in front of the Ainu, "Want a drink?" he sneered but before Horo horo had a chance to fight back, the three of them fell on the ground, flatting Yoh with their combined weight.

"YOH-SAMMMMAAAAAA!!!!" Tamao shrieked. She had just come back from shopping groceries and the sight of the three shamans piling up upon her 'beloved Yoh-sama' horrified her to death.

Instantly, the trio went off Yoh.

"Hey, Yoh? You alright, ne?" Horo horo asked, poking the dark-haired shaman.

"Yoh-danna!!!! Gomen nasai!!!" Ryu bowed.

"Yoh…?"

Pirika suddenly gasped loud. "Onii-chan killed Yoh-kun!!!!!!!" she put a shaking hand over her mouth.

"Pirika!!!!" Horo horo complained; sweat dropped.

Faust and Eliza appeared along with Manta and Ren.

"What are you so noisy about?!" Ren complained but then he stopped, staring at the fainted body of his friend.

"Yoh? What happened to you?" Manta asked, poking him a couple of times.

Soon, everyone was trying to wake the dark-haired shaman up.

"YOH-SAMMMMAAAAAA!!!!!" Tamao screamed at his ear but he remained asleep.

"Why don't you wake up now, Yoh?!?!?!?" Ren conjured up his glaive at raised it up high, preparing for a strike.

"Uh…I don't think that's necessary." Manta muttered as everyone went out of the Chinese shaman's way, except Horo horo who has holding Yoh up by his collar.

"Yoh!" Anna called; her voice stern.

Everyone stopped and looked at Anna.

Yoh blinked a couple of times. Horo horo dropped him. "Ouch!" he exclaimed, hitting his head on the ground.

"Is it just me or did Anna just wake Yoh up by _just calling his name." Horo horo asked, looking at his companions who were all flabbergasted._

Yoh stood up and dusted off his pants. He smiled then greeted, "Horo horo! Ryu! Chocolove! Pirika! How's it going?" he patted Horo horo's shoulder.

"Yoh, go and cook dinner now. Tamao, give the groceries to Yoh." Anna ordered then left the scene.

The shaman nodded, grinning, "Hai!" he took the groceries from Tamao and headed to the kitchen.

A moment of silence encountered the whole group.

"I'll go help Yoh-danna cook dinner." Ryu muttered.

"Uh, me too." Tamao followed Ryu.

"Oh yeah, I need to do something!" Manta scurried away right after Tamao

"Let's go to the dining table. I'm getting hungry." Horo horo rubbed his stomach, looking at his sister.

Ren smirked, "You should've seen your faces there. You all look like jerks!" he crossed his arms with his weapon in his hands.

Chocolove put on a horrified face, he gasped, copying Pirika, "Ren Tao's a clerk???????"

In no time at all, the dark-skinned shaman lay on the wooden floor of the Asakura residence with a big bump on his head.

"Ren Tao? Clerk?" Pirika repeated after a short pause. Then she started laughing like a maniac. "That was sooooo funneeeee!!!!!"

Yoh sat up and made his way upstairs then settled on the roof. He looked up at the stars.

"Yoh?" asked the most familiar female voice in the world.

The shaman looked at the itako, "Anna? What are you doing here? It's past midnight already." He asked as his fiancée sat beside him.

"I should be the one asking you that." She stared at Yoh who was now looking back at the sky. "You can't sleep." She stated – not asked, following his gaze.

Yoh nodded. "The stars are beautiful tonight, ne?"

The itako nodded. "Yes, they are." Now, being alone with Yoh, she smiled a true smile.

"Good." He answered back.

She looked at his face and stared, "What do you mean? Of course I have a right to like stars too." She said, her voice becoming strict once again.

Yoh shook his head. "No, not that." He gazed into Anna's eyes. "It's good, don't you think? That this time, you'll be coming with us to Patch village, ne? Unlike before; I had to leave you here." He explained turning back to the stars.

The same genuine smile entered her face once again but she didn't reply. She just looked up at the stars like Yoh, knowing that he understood the silence she had given him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"WHERE THE HECK DID YOH DISAPPEAR TO?!?!?!?!?!" Ren shouted impatiently. He was the one providing the vehicle towards the airport and the plane towards. And it just so happens, he had never been late his _whole life and he doesn't intend to start._

"We've checked everywhere!" Horo horo complained, waving his arms in the air because of frustration.

"Not everywhere though. We haven't checked at the rooftop yet!" Chocolove joked, laughing a bit.

Ren and Horo horo looked at each other then zoomed towards the rooftop, passing Faust and Eliza who were clinging onto each others arms.

"WAAAAKKEEEE UUUUUPPPPP!!!!" both shamans said in chorus.

Yoh sat up and rubbed his head, making the blanket covering him fall off. "Anna?" he asked, blinking a bit.

"This is no time to daydream!!!!" Ren shouted, "We're gonna be late for the flight!!!"

The dark-haired shaman eyes opened wide. He quickly stood up and rushed off the roof.

"Good. Now we can leave." The Chinese smirked.

"Anna!"

Yoh opened the door in Anna's room but she wasn't there. He quickly rushed down and saw the itako finish eating her breakfast. "Anna!" he said in relief, "I thought you had fallen off the roof or something!" he approached.

Anna stretched out her hand, holding up her bowl. "Give me another serving of rice." She ordered.

He refilled the bowl and sat across his fiancée. "I was so worried because I knew you were still there on the roof when I fell asleep! Good thing you're still fine!" he explained, flashing his ever-famous grin.

"Who do you think was stupid enough to sleep outside in that cold without a blanket?" she snapped, sipping the tea that accompanied her meal.

"Whoa! Don't tell me you guys actually _slept on the rooftop _alone_?!" Horo horo suddenly popped in but the two didn't answer. Anna just stood up and left the two alone._

"Be sure to clean that before you leave." She ordered then went up to her room.

The ice shaman sneered and swung his arm on his friend's shoulder. Instantly, everyone appeared out of nowhere.

"You are the man, Yoh!!!" the blue-haired Ainu gave him a thumbs-up, "But you lack creativity! Why in the roof top?! There are lots of places to go! Like Anna's room for example!!!" he whined, creating a square frame in the air with his hands.

Yoh blinked, not getting the point of this sudden fuss.

"You finally did it, Yoh-danna! I'm so proud of you! And to think that you're this young!" Ryu gave Yoh a high five. "I better start jotting down advices for your next encounter!" he conjured up a notebook and started scribbling with a weird smile on his face.

"What???" the dark-haired shaman looked at the different expression looking at him.

Ren had his arms crossed and a smirk was on his face. "Pathetic! We had to wait for you just because you enjoyed yourself with that?!" he said, pertaining to the sudden change of schedule he had to make because of Yoh.

"Yoh-kun…I'm sure….you….and…Anna-san…will be….will be…very happy!!!!" Tamao gave her message, eyes full of tears and voice full of sobs.

"I can't believe you, Yoh! And I thought you were somebody more decent!!!!" Manta exclaimed in disbelief.

"Believe it or not! The one and only Asakura Yoh is IN-decent!!!!" Chocolove flashed a cent in front of the audience. (Naisho: for those who didn't get this joke, what Choco meant was 'IN THE CENT' but you pronounce it as 'indecent')

A minute of silence passed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!!!!!" Pirika laughed, kicking her legs in the air, "You are SOOOOO funny, Chocolove!!!!!!"

"Yoh-sama, let me be the godfather!" said Faust, taking his gaze away from Eliza for the first time in hours.

"What are you talking about?!" Yoh exclaimed, "We were just -"

"We know, Yoh. We know. You don't have to keep it a secret." The Ainu nodded in a way that implies 'I know everything'.

"Watching -"

"Of course you were."

"Stars -"

"Yes, you must've seen many."

Yoh stood up, shrugging away the hands of his friends. "I don't know what you're talking about." He turned around and went upstairs to fix his things.

"No need to lie about it, Yoh!" Horo horo called when Yoh was already leaving.

The shamans and their friends approached the big plane parked in the exact place it had been on their first trip to America.

"Exactly the same! All we need now is for Hao to appear!" Horo horo joked. The others laughed along with him.

Each of them boarded the plane. Yoh was the last one to go up the stairway and into the plane.

He kept staring at the place where they had encountered Hao, his twin who was now dead. At least they believed he was. Just when he was halfway through, he saw a sudden flicker of a flame in that memorable place. He stopped and leaned forward, trying to get a better look at it but he never saw it again.

"Yoh! What are you doing? If you don't get in now, the plane's gonna leave you behind." Ren called.

Yoh nodded. "Okay. I'll be coming now." He turned his head to the plane, shaking it a bit. _Must've been my imagination._

"Now, off to America!"

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Added notes: Seirei no Ou = Great Spirits; Umemiya Ryunosuke = Ryu's real name

Does anyone know the English translation (it was 'version' before ^_^;; Sorry for the confusion and thanks to the anonymous reviewer Kaori-san for making me notice it and for pointing out a couple of things ^_^) of Inyou no Chigiri??? If you do, then please mail it to me (pleeeeeaaaaasseeee)! I really need it!

So? What do you think? It sucked didn't it but, anyway, for the sake of my readers (and flames ^_^), I'll be continuing it.

I was too kind in this chap. I didn't make anyone suffer yet. Don't worry I will in the next chappies (probably next week or tomorrow, depending on how inspired I am)!!!! Mind you, I'm an Anna fan. (GO!!!!! ANNA~!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!!) But not an ecstatic Yona fan (Yes, I like that pairing too but…) I just write what I write so sue me if you want.

And speaking of chapters? This is the longest chapter I've made! It reached _seven pages_!!!! (Yup, font size ten, Arial, Top and Bottom margin: 1", Left and Right margin: 1.25", Gutter: 0") But of course this changes in ff.net.

I think I neglected the power spirits a little too much, ne? I'll make up for it in the next chapter.

My idea's too common! Too cliché!!!! If I have a similar story somewhere out there then I give a million of my apologies!!!!

Ren was OOC, ne? Ne? Ne? And so is everybody else!!!! *gets hit by lightning*

Complain all you want please and review!!!! I don't have a beta reader so there might be lots of grammatical errors!!!


	2. Meetings

[Next chappie was started before author-dearest could get any reviews so forgive her if she cannot meet the others' demands if there are some.]

Oh, crap, has the narrator gone lose again??? And now you've come to ruin my life?! Can't you be contented by creating commotion in my friends' lives?!?!?!

Leave me with my craziness…. –_–;;

I hoped you guys likes my first chap and I hope you'll like this one too but I can't guarantee that this'll be as long as the former one. Anyway, I'll try my best.

I wanna leave you guys hanging, okay? You have been warned.

[ Here, Naisho-san presents the second chapter entitled - ]

Shut up! Leave me alooooonnneeeee!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Not creative today…I'll put a poetical disclaimer in the next chap…I promise…. So, for the meantime, stick with this one: Shaman King is something I cannot take money from no matter what I do (unless I become the owner of the publishing house ^_^)

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**CHAPTER TWO**

**            _Meetings_**

"Tell me again…why are we walking?" Horo horo asked for the twentieth time.

Ren's eyes flashed. "WOULD YOU STOP ASKING THAT?!?!?!?!?!" he screamed even though the Ainu wasn't even facing anyone in particular.

"Anna said it'll be good training for the Shaman Fight." Yoh breathed.

It was already noon and they had been walking for five straight hours now. Anna and everyone else who wasn't part of the Shaman Fight took a vehicle to Patch Village but the itako ordered Yoh and the others to _walk towards the village for her so-called 'shaman training', which Horo horo refers to as 'shaman torturing'. They were just a thousand kilometers away from Patch Village and, if everything goes right, they would arrive there in about two weeks and will still have time to rest for a week or so. And in that pace, they're not even hurrying._

"But its sooooo damn hot!!!!" Ryu complained, crouching down and sweating like hell.

The sun was high up and every one of them was crouching low – except Yoh who was still walking properly with the same happy smile. He had taken the lead with the harusame leaning on his shoulder.

"It's so hot; I can't even think of a good joke right now." Said Chocolove, fanning himself with his hand.

"None of your jokes are good." The Ainu spat back, glancing at the dark-skinned jester.

Yoh laughed.

"What the heck is your problem, Yoh? Can't you feel the heat?" Horo horo mumbled; irritated by the fact that Yoh wasn't suffering like the rest of them were. Kororo was floating around him, blowing a soft cold breeze to make her master feel more comfortable but it was doing nothing at all.

The dark-haired shaman shook his head and turned at them. "Why are you guys acting like that? It's not even that hot!" he rubbed his head, looking clueless at the sweating shamans. "In fact, it's very cool here." He explained as a slight breeze made his bangs fly.

The shamans looked at each other and stared at Yoh.

"AAAAHHH!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!" the ice shaman started stomping his feet on the hard ground, starting a childish tantrum. "WHY THE HECK IS IT SOOOO HOOOOOOOTTTT?!?!?!?!?!" he screamed. Then Kororo blew hard, making a small snowstorm pass the Ainu. Horo horo paused, eyes wide-open. Half his body has now been frozen.

A few dust particles flew past them.

"Hear ye! Hear ye! Come one and all! Try our new delight! The Frozen Ainu!!!!" Chocolove started shouting out in the open but nobody except the group of shamans were there to hear him. They _were walking across a barren land, almost like a desert because of its solidarity._

The Ainu shook off the ice that covered him and snatched Kororo. He pointed the kurropokuru at the jester and the next thing they knew, Chocolove was more frozen than Horo horo.

"Let's go. We don't want to waste our time here." Ren ordered, now taking the lead. It seemed that they had all recovered from the heat.

Everyone agreed and followed Ren, leaving the dark-skinned shaman to melt from the sun.

"Hey! Don't leave me here! Guys!" Chocolove shouted, his head wet with the melted ice.

"Finally! A town!" Ryu and Horo horo exclaimed, taking a deep breath. "I think I smell something nice!" Horo horo smiled then turned to his companions, "Let's go eat!" he raised a fist. Everyone agreed, raising their knuckle just the same except Ren.

"We should find a place to sleep first then we could go eat." The Chinese shaman muttered, his arms crossed but nobody was there to listen to him.

"Don't worry about it, Ren. Everything will be fine." Yoh tapped the back of the younger shaman, smiling as always, then dragged him towards the rest of the group who had just found some place to eat.

Horo sneered, resting his head on his arms behind his head. "Yeah, Ren Tao carabao is such a worry wart! It's not as though we won't get any rooms!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but our last and biggest room has been taken already." The lady at the counter bowed. "All our rooms are booked already and the others are under construction so we have nothing to offer you."

Ren glared at the rest of the group. "I-"

"Aren't there any hotels here in this town?" Yoh asked, leaning on the counter but the lady just shook her head and apologized once more.

Horo horo loosened his collar and looked at the Chinese shaman, sweat dropped. "Uh…well…look at the coincidence…. Hehehehe…." He backed away, trying hard not to meet the angry yellow eyes of his companion; Ren just approached him slowly, eyes glaring.

"Well, that room was taken only by one person so if you could ask him, then maybe he could let you share his room. The young man is right over there." Said the girl, sweat dropped because of the scene the Ainu and the Chinese were showing. She pointed to a young man with green hair.

Bright smiles entered their faces. "LYSERG!!!!"

Lyserg Diethyl smiled and waved at the group. "Yoh! Minna!" he greeted, "What made you come here?" but he was never answered. Horo horo quickly put a friendly arm on him and everyone looked at him with expectant eyes.

"You _are_ a good friend, aren't you?"

The English shaman nodded, blinking. He just didn't understand what that question was for. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Arigatou, Lyserg." Yoh said for the third time in the row. He was sitting on a rocking chair and was resting his head with Amidamaru floating beside him.

Lyserg nodded and opened the window, letting in a cool breeze. "It's nothing. This room is too big for me in the first place. It's just that it was the only one left." He explained, looking back at Yoh and the others. "It'll be like last time. We'll be traveling together." He smiled.

"Lyserg!!!! I'm so happy to finally see you!!!! I've missed you!!!!" Umemiya Ryunosuke jumped towards him for a hug but the younger shaman dodged him.

"So, Lyserg, why are you still going to the Shaman Fight?" Horo horo asked, leaning forward. "Don't tell me the Iron Maiden and Marco are going to the fight too?" everyone looked at Lyserg expectantly. They hadn't thought about that or – if they did – they never thought about bringing it up.

The green-haired shaman smiled softly then nodded. He gazed at the floor, "Jeanne-sama asked me to come. She said she wants me to help her gain the Seirei no Ou with Marco." He looked up, "Marco said Jeanne-sama gained a new spirit. It was the closest they could get to Shamash." He laughed, forcefully and shrugged his shoulders.

The others looked at each other suspiciously.

Yoh stretched his arms and leaned on the backrest, making the chair sway a bit. "Well, then, it'll be nice to see Mistress Jeanne again, right?" he grinned, "The more the merrier!"

Horo horo and Chocolove agreed, nodding and passing on the subject. Ren snickered and crossed his arms, leaning on the wall behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoh took a deep breath and exhaled. He turned back to his companions and smiled. "Let's go!" he said. Ren and Horo horo took the lead, bickering at each other. They were reminding him of old times, times when they were all just traveling to Patch Village even though the trip wasn't as pleasant as this because of Hao. His smile faded. He didn't know why but the every time Hao's name came into his mind, he felt something squeezing his chest. He could feel his breathing hasten and his fingers dug deep into the flesh of his palm.

"Yoh-dono?" Amidamaru shook him back to reality.

The dark-haired shaman shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, looking up at the sky, pale from the first rays of the sun. _I shouldn't be worrying about these things. Hao is dead and he's not coming back to life anymore._

"Yoh-dono?" his spirit repeated, now with a more worrying and alerting voice.

The shaman turned to the samurai and grinned. "Don't worry, Amidamaru. Everything will be fine." He said his trademark words. He swung harusame onto his shoulder and put his remaining hand in his pocket.

"Yoh! Hurry up or we're gonna leave you!" The Ainu called, waving at him.

"Can you ever be slower?!" Ren spat, his temper building up at such an early hour in the morning.

"Yoh-danna!" "Yoh-kun!" each called the young shaman.

"Hai!" he shouted back, smiling and approaching them. Instantly, they were back in their own thing; Ren and Horo horo fighting over something silly; Chocolove creating useless yet endless jokes about the Chinese and the Ainu's argument; Ryu sticking to Lyserg, who was trying hard to ignore the whims of his friend; Faust holding Eliza tightly in his arms. _Yes, that issue isn't important at all. This__ is what's  important._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How far is the next town?" Yoh asked, looking at Ren and Lyserg.

"About two kilometers ahead." Lyserg pointed to the distant cluster of uneven mountains that were faded in blue because of the sky. Morphine sat on his shoulder gazing at the same direction her master was. Her wings suddenly stiffened and flinched. She floated up then turned to her right.

The green-haired English shaman turned at the same direction his power spirit was looking. "Why? Morphine? What is it?" he asked as his power spirit flew away from him. He followed diligently, trusting the pixie's instincts.

The whole group of shamans followed their friend and his fairy. Soon, they heard different feline voices that all seemed pretty familiar. They looked at each other and peeked at the shallow ravine. There, on the bunch of smooth boulders, was an upturned red truck and beside that truck were five girls, two of which were busily arguing at each other.

"But I'm hungry!!!!" said the small one with a pink dress and matching headband. She stomped her feet and glared at the taller girl with ochre hair.

"Well, you can't do anything about it! It's your fault why we ended up here!" spat back the other, crouching down with her hands on her waist, "If only you weren't whining about your hunger then we wouldn't be stranded here!" she glared and gritted her teeth as sparks flew between the gazes of the two.

Yoh looked at his companions then turned back to the girls. "Milly! Ally!" he called the attention of the two. He crouched down and gave them a slight wave. "Yo."

Milly's eyes grew wide as she spotted a particular green-haired shaman. A bright and big smile entered her small face. "LYSERG-SAMA!!!!!!" she approached the ledge where Lyserg and the others were standing. The said shaman smiled back and gave her a wave, which made her forget all of their worries.

"Do you need some help there?" Yoh asked Sarona.

The blonde quickly turned to the brains of their team, Lily. "What do you think? Should we let them help us?"

The green-haired girl pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "They are part of the Shaman Fight but I don't think they'll be the ones cheating on us. This could be a good chance to make a trap." She whispered to their leader but, Sarona, being the *eherm* not-fully-gifted-by-such-intellectuality-by-God person (Naisho: *sweat dropped*), she thought it too obvious to accept the help as easily as that.

Sarona took a deep breath then faced the dark-haired shaman with her fakest and most ridiculous smile. "Gomen, Yoh-kun, but we can manage this." She said, resulting to reverse psychology instead.

The dark-haired shaman stood up and lightly clapped his palms at his pants to get rid of dust, "Okay then. Good luck." . He turned around and one after the other, they faced their backs at Ly-ly five.

"Bye! We'll see each other in Patch Village!" Horo horo called with a smirk on his face.

The blonde's jaw dropped but no words came out of her hanging mouth. Only Milly was the one brave enough to protest. The little girl kicked her legs, stomped her feet and waved her hands in the air as a tantrum started.

"NOOOOO!!!!" she shouted, which instantly caught the attention of the leaving shamans. "I WANNA LEAVE NOW!!!!!!" Milly screamed facing their oldest member. "It's _your_ fault why we can't have Lyserg-sama with us!!!!!"

"I think you should thank Milly for not letting them go." Said Lily as Sarona drove their vehicle down the road. She turned her head at the back window. Milly was there, enjoying herself with Lyserg's arm, while Ryu was looking at the two, face vaulted.

Sarona nodded then looked at the reflection in the rear view mirror. She smiled then looked back at the road.

"LET GO OF LYSERG!!!!!" Ryu yelled but he didn't even try to pull Milly away from the young boy. He just stood there and gaped at them with anger and envy.

The little whiny girl stuck out her tongue and pulled the arm closer to her, which just made the tall shaman angrier than he was then. Lyserg just sat there looking at Milly and Ryu sweat dropped. He maybe a powerful shaman but he was helpless when it comes to situations like these.

The argument lasted for minutes and the Chinese shaman's hair grew longer and sharper at every passing minute.

"SHUT THE HELL UP BOTH OF YOU!!!! CAN'T YOU BE MORE QUIET?!?!?!?!" he screamed, waving his spear threateningly. For a moment, silence reigned the vehicle but it didn't last that long.

The Ainu smirked. "You're just jealous because you're not the one they're fighting over." He snickered as he watched veins pop out of his friend's head. He surely knows how to irritate Ren Tao and it seems like he had developed a habit out of it.

"NANDA' TO?!?!?!?!?!" The yellow-eyed Chinese hollered, turning to face the northern shaman. He sent the weapon he was holding down the place where the Ainu was but Horo horo had already jumped out of the way. Anger built up inside of him. He threw his glaive aside and face the ice shaman.

"Yup! That's what I said! You're just jealous!" he grinned as he noticed the spear lay forgotten on the floor of the car. The other shaman's eyebrows narrowed more as he let out his anger in a scream fest.

Milly and Ryu quickly forgot the threat the Chinese shaman had given them and continued their bickering with Lyserg covering his ears between them both.

Faust and Eliza lay beside each other; cuddling, hugging, and giving each other pecks on the cheek; their fingers were laced into each other's palms, each looking at the other with loving eyes.

Yoh slumped back on the car, watching Chocolove make useless jokes that just led to him being hit hard on the head by the Chinese and Ainu. He laughed along as he observed the everyday situation he knew would last.

In the car, the remaining member of the Ly-ly five were holding on tightly to their seat as their ride grew bumpy and jumpy because of the fights occurring on the back. Ally had hit his head on the top for twenty times already; Lily had her seatbelt tight around her and she was holding the chair stiffly; Sally, on the other hand, had her head, which was now a nasty shade of green, out of the window; Sarona was crouching down, her face close to the steering wheel and her hair ruffled. "We can survive this." She muttered, driving zigzag-ly.

"LET LYSERG GO!!!!"

"DIE, YOU ACCURSED AINU!!!!"

"CRY, YOU ABSURD SHAMPOO!!!!"

"CHOCOLOVE~!!! STOP MAKING USELESS JOKES!!!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ally and Milly crouched behind a boulder then peeked back at the Funbari Onsen Team and Lyserg who were playing in the hot springs. Both were blushing madly but, they weren't here to watch them. They were here to carry out the plan Lily had created for them but…they just couldn't bear to do it.

"I don't wanna hurt Lyserg-sama." Milly whined, teary-eyed. She had been chewing the hem of her skirt ever since they arrived there.

Ally looked at her sweat dropped. She hated to admit it but she also didn't want to do anything to harm their new found friends. She peeked back at the relaxing shamans then at her little sister. "Uh…Yoh and the others _are very kind to us, right?" she asked with worried eyes._

The little girl stopped sobbing and let her hem go. "NEE-CHAN!!!!" she jumped and hugged Ally. "Of course they are! That's why we shouldn't be doing this!!!!" she rubbed her cheek to her sister's. "Milly! Keep it down! They might hear us!" said the older one between chuckles.

"Oh? Ally? Milly? What are you doing here?" Yoh asked, taking a look at them with a yukata covering his semi-dry body. Faust, Ryu and Lyserg were looking at the two behind the Izumo shaman, all with confused looks on their faces.

The two members of Ly-ly five blinked with humongous eyes of shock. They crawled away from them, still clinging onto each other's arms. Then, before they could be reached, they sped away into the forest with bright red faces.

Yoh turned back to his companions and shrugged his shoulders.

Ally and Milly fell on their knees, panting hard and wiping their faces off sweat. Ally was rubbing her cheeks vigorously to get rid of the blush but it only made her cheeks redder. Milly was shaking her head vigorously as though an insect was sticking to her hair.

Sarona blinked. "What happened? Did the plan go successful?" she asked.

The two stopped glanced at each other then smiled. They both stood up and took a deep breath. "We don't want to hurt them anymore!!!" they exclaimed. "Yoh had always been kind to us! Remember! He tried to save us even though we weren't listening to him anymore! If it weren't for him, then we wouldn't be alive!" Ally pointed out with Milly nodding her head behind as support.

Their leader grew sweat dropped. A rustling of leaves signaled the arrival of the remaining members of Ly-ly five. Both Sally and Lily were looking at the ground solemnly but Sarona failed to notice that.

"At last! Lily! Sally!" she breathed, "Would you believe what these two said?! They don't want to trap Yoh and the others anymore!" she exclaimed with a pinch of irritation in her voice.

Lily nodded while Sally turned her head away, trying to avoid eye contact with their head. "Yes, we heard them and…" the green-haired girl turned to the redhead, "We agree with them! We don't want to hurt Yoh and the others anymore! They've always been kind to us so why can't we be to them?" she exclaimed. Sally nodded along.

Being outnumbered, Sarona finally got the point of their protest. She smiled then sighed. "Okay…so Yoh had been kind to us…." She shrugged her shoulders and glanced at Ally and Milly who were looking at her with expectant eyes. "We won't trap them anymore."

"YIPPPEEEE!!!!" Milly and Ally jumped. Then the two of them started dancing around in circles.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure its okay if we travel with you guys?" Yoh asked uncertainly. Anna had _strictly_ told him to _walk_ to Patch village and he didn't think that Ly-ly five giving them a ride would be an exception. He just hates it when his fiancée is mad at him; he suffers too much.

Horo horo pounded his back and jumped in the car. "Of course it is! Why are you so hesitant anyway? Don't tell me you don't want to travel with the Ly-ly five?" he asked suspiciously.

The dark-haired shaman shook his head, a worried look across his face. "No…it's not just…. Well, it's Anna…. She…" Yoh looked at the seemingly endless road in front of him. "I think I'll just walk." He turned to leave but Ren grabbed his collar and pulled him into the car.

"Can you be whinier?!" The Chinese shaman held his weapon near him.

"But in truth, you're just worried about Yoh-sama traveling alone!" said Bason, appearing here and there around his master.

The rest of the group laughed. And, in no time at all, the warrior spirit was cut in half. "AAAAHHHHH~!!!!! I'm broken!!!!" Bason screamed,

"Yoh-dono!" Amidamaru floated beside his master with a troubled look on his face. He obviously knows what Yoh was worrying about.

"Don't worry, Amidamaru. Everything will turn out fine."

"…I think." Yoh flinched as he saw the fuming look on his fiancée's face. It just so happens, that Anna was there when the Funbari Onsen team, the Ren team and Lyserg were dropped off by the Ly-ly five. And boy, how bad his stay here in Patch village will be.

His feet involuntarily took a step backwards. "Uh…hi, Anna. Nice day we're having today, right?" he said, trying to change the subject quickly.

Anna raised one eyebrow and stared. "Didn't I tell you to _walk to Patch village?" she stated, arms crossed, with her cold spine-chilling voice._

The shaman felt his collar tightening on his neck. He swallowed hard and let out a tiny, high-pitched nervous, "Yes."

"A hundred laps around the _whole Patch village." She ordered but Yoh stood there not moving a muscle with a flabbergasted face. Irritated, the itako glared and said, "__Three hundred laps." She added._

"Anna~!!!" Yoh whined.

"Five hundred."

The shaman sighed and turned around, facing the blank faces of his friends. He gave out a long sigh and set out for his punishment.

Everyone looked at him until he was out of sight and turned back to Anna.

"What are you looking at?" she spat, her hands tightening the grip on her elbows, "Do you want to follow Yoh?"

Nobody said anything.

The itako closed her eyes then faced her back at them. "Ryu! Go get me something to eat! I'm hungry!" she sent out a command to the tallest shaman in the group. She went inside the building they were staying in.

Ryu quickly disappeared into Patch village.

Lyserg looked at the remaining shamans. "Is it always like this?" he asked.

The Ainu grinned then nodded at him. "Good thing Pirika hasn't found me yet."

"ONII-CHAN!!!!" called the blue-haired sister of the said ice shaman. She jumps up to her brother and envelopes him in a hug. "Anna-san said you didn't receive enough training! So we'll have to make up for it now!" she said in a worried and urgent tone. The Ainu could only nod his head as he was pulled away from his freedom. "Darn you, Anna…." He hissed

"REN-KUN!!!" Jun Tao, the older sister of Ren, appeared with her kiyonshi, Lee Pai Long running just beside her. She gave her little brother a hug and crouched down to his level. "Could you please buy some of these for me? I've run out of stock." She smiled brightly.

The Chinese's jaw dropped. He looked at his aneko and was about to refuse but that smile of his sister's face was too much to refuse.

"Please?"

"Fine." He snatched the paper and made his way to a few of the shops in Patch, grumbling angrily on the way.

The English shaman turned to Chocolove and Faust, which were the two he didn't know that much. He glanced at Morphine then sighed. _I guess I better get used to this._

"Lyserg!" The jester put his hand on the other's shoulder, smiling brightly.

"Eliza, do you want to go and eat? It's nearly lunch." Faust offered his wife and power spirit. The two were soon in a restaurant in Patch. The ten guardians must be so happy now that they received a few customers.

The pixie watched her master laugh a little at the useless jokes of the dark-skinned shaman. She smiled softly and laughed along.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Added notes: Seirei no Ou = Great Spirits; Umemiya Ryunosuke = Bokuto no Ryu's full name

I was finally able to plan ahead and this story will reach 11 chapters alone (not unless something happens to alter this). I _looooooveeeee my ending!!!! And I tell you, it won't be something like "and they lived happily ever after". I can't wait to finish this!!!!_

Anyways, what do you think of this chapter? Am I going too slow? Isn't everyone SOOOO OOC????? Tell me! Tell me! Tell me! Flame me!!!!!

Lyserg is the most gender-ly confusing character I've ever known! My fingers kept typing 'her' instead of 'him'!!!! Sheesh, I'm gonna die here….

Hey, what is Opacho's gender BTW? And what does Bason call Yoh anyway (I'm not sure about 'Yoh-sama)? And what does Jun call Ren???? And is the spelling of kiyonshi correct???? Forgive the ignorant please…T_T

But really, please complain if you have problem. I can't guarantee, though, that I'll be doing something about it. I just wanna know how much of a suck-y crappy author I am because I already know that I am one T_T. Nonetheless, you're the ones to decide.

Reviews, please!!!!

Next chapter title: "Mirror, Mirror". Now, its your turn to guess what the content will be *wiggles eyebrows*.

Let me just remind you; I am a Hao fan. Yes, HAO-CHAN RULZZZZ!!!!!!!!


	3. Mirror, mirror

Yuna-chan, Leopi-chan, uh…am I gonna die for this???? (_) 

Chapter three!!! ^_^ this chapter will have more mystery and *gasps, jumps up and down, runs around in circles frantically then stops at the center* HAO-CHAN'S GONNA APPEAR NOW!!!!!!! *dies of shock*

But not _that_ much *sighs sadly* T_T I wanna write more about Hao-koibito, (just kidding ^_^;;) [Koibito=lover] I mean Hao-chan.

What the heck - ?! I'm acting like a crazy fan girl!!! And I _am not_ one!!!! Besides, I would _never_ want Hao-chan to be my koibito. I'd rather die and undergo Anna's one-of-a-kind, body-torturing training a million times than for that to happen; not that I don't like Hao….

I'll try to include the power spirits now…. I think I can…. I hope I can….

Anyway, on with the story!!! (Don't forget to flame me because I know it sucks)

Disclaimer: Shaman King is not mine/ The story 'Yin and Yang' is/ Change will not come if I whine/ But just this will give me bliss/ Read then review anonymous or signed/ What matters is that you gave this/

Weird disclaimer ^_^;; …That's the best (which is pretty worse) my mind can think of right now. XD

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**CHAPTER THREE**

**            _Mirror, mirror_**

"Kanpai!!!" The Ainu and the Elvis wannabe raised their mugs up high. The others clicked their glasses together creating a soft resonating jingling sound. Everyone laughed and started chatting with each other about minor and – almost – useless topics.

The itako drank her tea in one gulp and glared at Yoh. "This celebration is useless. It's not as though you won a fight or something. You should be training right now instead of enjoying yourself. How can you become the Shaman King if you're always slacking like this?" she spat while refilling her cup. She sent the brim to her lips and finished the liquid in one drinking. She looked like she was someone who wanted to drown himself in liquor or something similar if only it weren't for that sober  stare she kept giving everybody who dared interrupt her.

The latest descendant of the Asakura's laughed and flashed a grin. "Anna, it's a welcoming celebration." He said, sitting close to his fiancée. "We're just happy being here. And, aren't you having fun here?" he dared ask, leaning on the table behind him.

"No." she answered without a pause then drank more tea.

"Although you say that, you're filling yourself up with the drinks." Ren muttered as he dropped down the tenth bottle of milk he had for the whole day.

Silence overwhelmed them all as Anna kept a cold and menacing glare at the Chinese shaman. Quickly, everyone left the ten meter radius around Ren, who practically didn't have a care nor did he notice the lack of presences around him.

"Ren never learns this lesson, does he?" Manta sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Gomen nasai, Bocchama." Bason muttered then floated pass the itako who was now standing in front of his master. Itako beads quickly wrapped around the Chinese warrior spirit. He bit his lip hard and started sobbing like a little kid.

"Bason, you're becoming too soft." The Tao representative mumbled and turned to face his spirit but only found the said warrior in the hands of the itako. He looked up and gulped. Anna was towering over him, flinching with one eyebrow raised.

She tightened her grip on her beads and opened her mouth to say something but Yoh cut her.

"Uh, Anna, I don't think we should get violent here. It is a celebration, right?' the dark-haired shaman asked, standing between his fiancée and his friend.

"Are you saying I'm violent?" she said with a sharp tone. She released Bason from her grasps and held the beads in front of her as though creating a threat.

Yoh grew sweaty. He shook his head and rubbed the back of his head, letting off a nervous laugh. "N-n-no. Well, I wasn't. You are pretty vio – I mean, shouldn't we settle this in a more peaceful manner???" he felt like he was shrinking in front of the dominating presence of the itako.

"Out of my way, Yoh." She ordered, rushing past him but her fiancé grabbed her shoulder and protested. She felt irritated. Yoh had never gone against her before. Mainly because this was the first unreasonable celebration they had and he didn't want anything to spoil this evening because they might fight each other tomorrow already; this might be the last night they spend as friends and friends alone. She knew he had lots of reasons but…this doesn't mean that he could just go there and act like this.

"Let me go, _Yoh_." She said, now with more force and anger but the shaman didn't let go and just pleaded with a desperate tone. She could see everyone else looking at the situation awkwardly and with much surprise through her peripheral vision. She gritted her teeth and pushed the hand on her shoulder forcefully.

That made Yoh fall down, which caused him to involuntarily grab to the nearest one to him – which is, by chance – Anna.

"WHOA!!!" he called out, pulling his fiancée along with him.

"Yoh! What are you doing?! Let me go!" Anna shouted but she couldn't do anything but face the shaman.

A loud clutter signaled their fall. Yoh on the ground; Anna _on Yoh, their faces inches apart._

A lot gasps came from their 'audience'; Lyserg foolishly looked at the jaw dropped faces of his companions.

The door flew open. "Anna-san, I got the - " Tamao gasped. She had just been sent on an errand by the itako and how surprised – and, not to mention, heartbroken – she was when she saw the positions Anna and Yoh were in.

Anna, being the hard-headed person she was, wasn't fooled or shocked by the situation. She pulled herself up and sent a hard slap on Yoh's face. "That's for stopping me." She spat, standing up and putting on the beads over her head; Yoh sat up. "And this, " she faced the shaman and sent another infamous slap across his face, "is for making me fall." She walked passed the flabbergasted Yoh, the shocked shamans and the sobbing Tamao and closed the door behind her.

"O God, Yoh, you didn't have to be _that fast. You even had the guts to hit on her here!" Horo horo exclaimed with a more serious and urgent voice._

The dark-haired shaman stood up and looked worriedly and Tamao then at his friends. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said innocently as was his mind and soul, "But I'm sure Anna's gonna kill me!" he exclaimed in horror.

"Yoh-sama." Tamao muttered between tears. She knew Yoh and Anna were engaged but…she just can't help but feel sad about it.

The door swung open . Anna scanned the room. "You." She called to the English shaman, "Stand up." She ordered.

Lyserg blinked a couple of times, his jaw wide open. He pointed – stupidly – at himself, "Me?"

"Yes, you." She repeated with a pinch of annoyance in her voice. She just hated repeating herself. "Go and pack your things." She ordered.

"Huh?????" the green-haired boy looked at Anna, eyes-wide. "I didn't do anything." He protested. This was the first time Anna had actually spoken to him and he was now regretting it. He could feel an unknown fear in his veins; it was no wonder everyone never dared to disobey her.

Ryu gasped. "Anna-san! You don't have to make Lyserg go!!! He hasn't done anything at all!!!" he whined.

The itako sighed then went through the door then moved away from the opening to make way for a familiar pale-haired, scarlet-eyed young lady and a tall blonde shaman.

"Jeanne-sama!"

"Lyserg, please take your things now. I have Marco reserve a room for you. It would be my pleasure if you were to use it." Jeanne smiled at Lyserg then faced Anna. "Thank you for your kind hospitality." She made a curtsy then looked back at the shamans, giving Yoh a particular a soft smile.

Anna made a small nod and rolled her eyes when she noticed her smiling at her fiancé.

"Hai!" the English shaman turned to the room connecting this one and came out with a small bag in his arms. He approached his former mistress and turned to Yoh and the others. He bowed low and looked up, "Arigatou gozaimashita for letting me travel with you." He smiled brightly then pivoted back to the young lady.

Marco was the last to leave. His narrowed at Yoh; he pushed up his glasses.

"Yoh will be the Shaman King." Anna muttered with her back leaning on the wall.

The blonde stopped short, his fingers still holding the bride of his glasses. "We will support Jeanne-sama to the end." He left.

The itako sighed then left the room without another word.

"Lyserg!!!!" Ryu called, tears streaming endlessly from his eyes. He joined Tamao on the opposite corner, sulking like the young pink-haired girl was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fish slipped from Yoh's hand for the hundredth time. The said shaman's mouth dropped open. He turned to Anna with pleading eyes but he only received a stern refusal. He turned back to the water, which was reaching his knees, and pulled back his sleeves.

"Yoh-dono, you should wait carefully for the fish and use all your senses. Do not be so hasty or it will not be caught." Amidamaru pointed to a small bass in a deeper part of the lake

It was another type of weird training Anna had given him. So far, his training here in Patch village was thoroughly unusual; the laps were only done as a punishment. His mission there was to catch a hundred fishes with his own bare hands. That's why, now, Yoh Asakura was wading in the lake, water reaching his waist, half-naked, with a water proof basket on his back.

The bass quickly scuttled away with such ease. Yoh's face dropped. "Awww! Don't go away! I'm just gonna catch you! I'll set you free later!!!!" the shaman called to the fish, waving his arm furiously in the air.

"Uh…Yoh-dono…. You also have to be careful in approaching your prey. The fish can sense your movement in water." The samurai spirit looked at his master, who wasn't listening to him, and grew sweat dropped. Now that he could help in Anna's trainings, his aid wasn't of much use.

Anna shook her head and crossed her legs. She was sitting under a tree with the breeze softly blowing through her hair. She had a stop watch in her hands.

"The Seirei no Ou have always looked beautiful. I'm so happy that you agreed to participate in the fight, Pino!" a young lady with dark eyes and pale-colored hair appeared a few meters away from where Anna was resting.

Yoh turned his head to the shore, "Pino! Zyria! Cardimahide!" he waved, not looking at where he was going and accidentally, slipped under the surface.

"YOH-DONO!!!!" the spirit cried in shock as he also dived under water.

A blonde man turned to the lake, only enough to see a hand slowly disappearing into the waters. Minutes later, the wet body of Yoh Asakura emerged from the surface.

Anna approached and threw him a towel. "What kind of shaman are you?! Two hours have already passed and you haven't caught a single fish!!!!" she exclaimed, the top and Oracle bell of her fiancé in her arms.

Yoh laughed a little as he rubbed the towel in his hair vigorously. He turned to the three members of the Icemen team and beamed. "Hisashi buri dane." He greeted.

"Oh? You were trying to catch fish?" Pino repeated, looking from Anna then to Yoh.

The Japanese shaman nodded. "But the fish kept swimming away from me! I'm not gonna hurt them! I just wanna catch them! Then I'll set them free!" he said as though he had been wrongly accused of a grave sin.

"No, you won't set them free. You're gonna cook them for lunch and dinner." Anna countered, almost ignoring the presence of the shamans.

The Irish laughed and pat the back of the dark-haired boy. "Tell me, you haven't caught fish with your bare hands before, right?" He smiled and looked at Zyria and Cardimahide, "How about if I teach you?" he offered.

A bright smile entered the boy's face. "You would? Really?" he exclaimed but then stopped and turned at his fiancée, "Uh, Anna, is it okay if Pino teaches me how to fish?" he asked, finger crossed behind his back.

The itako  closed her eyes then nodded. "Is there anything else I can do?" she whispered to herself, "Be sure to capture a hundred before sunset." She ordered and recoiled back to the shade she had been resting under since the start of the training.

The Irish looked curiously at the itako and the shaman. Obviously, he didn't know what kind of relationship the two were in. He shrugged his shoulders and passed on the thought. "So, let's get started." He took off his thick coat and handed it to Zyria.

Soon afterwards, the two were drenched in water.

"At last! I'm finished!" Yoh fell on his back, ignoring the mud forming on his wet pants. He stretched his arms then lay flat on his back, looking at the dim light that emitted from the Great Spirit. He sighed as relaxation tingled his body.

Pino sat beside him, dry with his coat and Oracle bell on, and laughed. "You seem so relieved. I didn't think a hundred would be possible to catch in one day. You learn quick enough." He said; staring at the aurora softly forming above their heads, "By the way, why were you catching fish in the first place?" he was finally able to ask. Yoh was too enthusiastic about the job and was too hasty – which made the job harder than usual.

The shaman sat up and turned to his fiancée, who had the newly arrived Manta serve her. "It was Anna's training and, I tell you, never disobey Anna's orders." He said with a red alert tone in his voice.

A continuous ringing signaled the alertness of the present shamans. Yoh reached for his Oracle bell but found it out of his grasps. "My…bell…where…?" he muttered, looking left and right, front and back, in search for his device.

"Yoh-dono, the bell is with Anna-san." Amidamaru pointed to the itako.

Pino looked at his bell and stopped the other shaman before he left, "No, don't worry. Its mine." He called, waving his hand frantically as he used his remaining arm to scan his bell. "Icemen vs.…" he muttered, almost in a whisper. Near the itako, the other members of the Icemen team looked at their respective devices, mouthing out the same words their leader was.

The dark-haired shaman looked with expectant eyes.

"The Ren team."

"I can't believe that WE will get the first fight!!!!!!" The blue-haired shaman exclaimed as though complaining.

"Why? Are you complaining?" Ren spat back, drinking the remnants of his current milk bottle, "Besides, it's just the Icemen team; we could breeze through that fight. No worries." He threw his plastic bottle to one side.

Pirika picked up the bottle and threw it the nearby trash can. "Onii-chan! You should be training right now! What if that Icemen team is strong enough to defeat you?!" she said, worriedly. She knelt beside her brother and started pulling on his arm.

Horo horo shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Pirika. The Icemen team's zilch. Yoh defeated them alone during the previous fight and he hadn't been using all his strength at that time!" he said freely as though boasting about his win.

"But-"

"Ren! Horo horo! Chocolove!" Yoh dashed inside in a mood happier and more carefree than usual. "The Icemen team is your first opponent! Good luck!" he greeted as he went and sat near the Chinese shaman, who instantly stood up and left him. "Wha-?"

Ren just looked down at him with scowl on his face.

The dark-haired shaman looked at the floor and found it dripping with mud from his pants. He flashed a goofy grin and stood up, bowing apologetically, "Gomen, gomen, gomen; didn't notice that."

"Aww, man, you made the floor muddy!" the Ainu stood up just the same and went between his sister and their group leader.

"Oh, my, the land is so cuddly." Chocolove lamely said as he rubbed his cheek on the ground near the mud.

Everyone grew sweat dropped but, luckily, for Chocolove, since he hadn't offended anyone, he was still safe from the wraths of the Ainu and the Chinese.

"By the way, how did you know that our opponent is the Icemen team?" Horo horo asked, his head resting on his crossed arms behind his head. He looked at the obviously muddy shaman and flinched. It wasn't that he didn't like mud but…well…let's just say he doesn't wanna get dirty at this time and hour.

Yoh wiped his hands childishly on his pants, which only made his hands muddier than they were already. He looked at his palms and laughed, "I met Pino and the others a while ago. Pino helped me catch fishes." He explained, wiping his filthy palms on his white shirt – yes, his _purely unstained white shirt. He noticed the blank looks the others were giving him and added, "Anna's training. She said I need to catch a hundred before sunset."_

At that time, Manta arrived with Anna closely behind him. The little lad stopped short and looked at the tainted shaman in front of him, "Yoh-kun, what happened to you? Don't you know that mud stain will be hard to wash off your shirt? What're you gonna wear for training then?" he pointed.

The dark-haired shaman blinked a couple of times as though trying to process those alien words. "This?" he pulled his shirt, staining it with more mud, "I can fix this, I think, but it'll take more than a day." He explained, continuously wiping his hands as though it was nothing, "I can wear my battle suit."

The itako entered, arms crossed with the same menacing stare; she gave Yoh a full-body look and then stopped, glaring at his shirt. "Fix that. Now." She ordered, "You look like a mud monster. Go take a bath." She added as her fiancé went past her. "And while you're at it. Do the laundry."

"Aww! Anna!" he whined but he still went and did the job despite the fact that he acted like he didn't want it – though, not in a childish tantrum manner.

The Ren team and Pirika recoiled back to their places (of course, dodging the mud-stained floor) and relaxed. "It's just the Icemen team it'll be as easy as one, two, three." The Ainu lifted three fingers, one after the other.

The jester of the group started becoming irritating again as he jumped from Ren to Horo horo then back again saying repeatedly, "Icemen, dice 'em, spice 'em, surprise 'em." In an annoying juvenile tone as though taken from one of the nursery rhymes.

The rest of the Ren team started gritting their teeth and clenching their fists. Simultaneously, they turned around to Chocolove and gave him a unified punch that sent him flying across the air, "SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!" they shouted.

Pirika blinked a little and stared, clueless, at the dark-skinned shaman who now had his head stuck to the ceiling and was struggling to get out. She could hear muffled screams, shouts and complains from the shaman. She giggled a little and in no time, she was laughing like crazy while her brother and Ren were looking at her, sweat dropped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What'll we do, Pino? You know very well that the Ren team is one of the strongest teams in the fight. They're the only ones that could match against Funbari Onsen and Funbari Onsen defeated us easily last time." Zyria asked, worriedly. She knew they would never win the Seirei no Ou but they also don't want to lose their first fight. It would be…embarrassing.

Their leader shrugged his shoulders sadly, accompanying it with a soft sigh. "We did get stronger from last time." He muttered, low-spirited, as he sat on the biggest boulder, his hands in his pockets. He had that same almost monotonous look on his face ever since they arrived at the appointed meeting place – which was in a large opening near the forest that rested close to the Seirei no Ou. He kept toying with two smooth pebbles, which reflected the bright light of the Seirei no Ou, throwing it in the air and catching it.

"But, that doesn't mean they didn't get stronger also!!! What'll we do now? I know that we are no match for the other teams. I just don't wanna lose this early." She muttered, almost sobbing, but no tears appeared on her fair face.

Cardimahide put a comforting hand on the shoulder of the only female member of their group and grumbled words that nobody could understand.

Pino threw his back forward and stood up, dropping the stones on the ground. He snatched his staff and held it tightly, "It doesn't matter if we don't win; we _will do_ our best and give them the greatest fight they'll ever get." He said, his voice raising a decibel high at ever syllable. He looked at his right and the Ren team appeared, more carefree than usual, with the Funbari Onsen team, Anna the itako, Manta Oyamada, Jun Tao accompanied by her kiyonshi Lee Pai Long, Tamao Tamamura with her spirits Conchi and Ponchi hitting each other constantly, Pirika and, to everyone's surprise, Lyserg Diethyl of the X Laws I team.

Zyria eyebrows furrowed but the serious and determined look on her half-open eyes made up for it. The whole team stood up, strong and determined; letting a heavy air pass through the whole area.

Everyone could sense the unusual air that hung upon their heads. Quietly, everyone – except for Yoh Asakura who approached the other team without any hesitation and greeted them good luck – went to their assigned places: Anna and Yoh's group on the side, near the cluster of trees; The Ren Team on the side opposite of their opponent's, doing light warm-up exercises. After a few more minutes, Silva appeared from the sky with the help of his spirit, Silver Wing. He gave each group a glance then raised one of his hands, "Teams Assemble! Ready!!! Fight start!!!!" he shouted, sending his arm down hard.

The Icemen team started off with a hard kick off the ground, dashing towards their enemy without wasting a millisecond – very un-Icemen like.

The whole audience leaned forward in awe.

"What the-?!" Ren muttered as the three of them were separated from each other by continuous yet useless assaults by their assigned opponent. _Their speed increased…._, the Chinese shaman easily dodged their attacks with no effort used. _But… "You'll never win against me!!!!!!" he pushed Pino off with his sword._

Zyria and Cardimahide's attention were easily caught by the fall of their leader, which gave chance to Horo horo and Chocolove to counter attack.

The Icemen team were slowly reunited as the Ren team advanced on them.

The Irish shaman quickly noticed the lack of fighting the other team was expressing. He felt a sharp stab of anger on his chest; he slammed the tip of his staff on the ground. "You're underestimating us, aren't you?! You think we're just a useless team that's why YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING US!!!!!" he screamed angrily.

The Russian and the Icelandic shamans continued the outburst of their leader. Shouting and screaming angrily.

Horo horo laughed a little as he lessened his oversoul, making him vulnerable to any attacks. "You are so damn right!" he replied, unconscious of his choice of words. He felt spine-tingling stares point at him as he finally noticed what he actually said. "Uh…well…uh…I didn't-"

"WE WON'T LOSE TO YOU!!!!!" The whole team shouted in a united voice. In another flash, they had succeeded in their most famous technique – the one united their abilities, the one that used against Yoh and the one that was defeated by Yoh's Spirit of Sword.

"BASON!!!!!" The Tao called as they created their big oversoul. The Chinese shaman overshadowed the Ainu, who had fallen on his bottom because of the eruption. With one slash at the forming tsunami, he deflected the attack and sent the opposing shamans falling hard on the ground.

"The fight is finished." Anna muttered, eyeing the bruised shamans.

Pino stood up, shaking, as he put his weight on his staff. His other team members slowly stood up just the same. They quickly met each other's eyes and nodded. "We…will not lose without a good fight!!!!!"

Zyria oversouled Vodianoi, her water spirit, and created a gigantic bubbled of water at least twenty times her size. Pino raised his staff and pointed it at the block of water, "Baobh!!!!" a cry of a bird, much like an eagle, echoed through their ears. In no time, the whole blob of liquid was frozen solid.

Ren and the others stared at the humungous iceberg placed in front of them. They backed up a little and prepared their oversouls.

Then, Cardimahide flexed his muscles hard and threw out his chest like a bear. He raised a clenched fist and, with the help of his spirit, Deht, he punched the iceberg hard with Pino behind him, accompanying the shattered crystals with a strong snowstorm.

"That thing won't work on us!!!!!" the whole Ren team shouted in unison. Chocolove used Mic to dodge the sharp shards that came his way. Ren cut through the storm of icicles with his sword. Horo horo used Kororo to alter the direction of his share of icicles – which only proved to be such a big mistake.

"No sweat!!!" the Ainu exclaimed, throwing the icicles to his right…where Yoh and Anna along with the rest of the group were standing.

Lots of screams were heard from them.

"Horo horo!!!!! Are you outta your mind?!?!?! What are you trying to do to us?!?!?!?!" Umemiya Ryunosuke dragged the English shaman along with him as they dodged the raining shards.

The Ainu looked at his friends and flinched. "Sorry…." He mumbled.

The whole audience were scattered; Tamao was screaming her head off in a high-pitched voice, damsel-in-distress style, like hell as she strived to take shelter from the attack with Pirika yelling around, scolding her brother, behind her; Jun was crouching down covering her face as her kiyonshi blocked all the attacks with his powerful fists; Manta started running in circles like an escaped maniac with Yoh closely behind him. Only Anna remained calm in this situation and stayed in her place yet nothing came to hurt her – at least not yet.

The dark-haired shaman noticed the largest shard fly at Anna. "Anna!!!" he shouted but he wasn't heard for the confusing created an unbearable noisy atmosphere. He started running towards his fiancée, calling her name desperately. His eyes had deceived him and gave him a wrong answer. Instead of hitting the itako, that accursed piece landed two inches away from here and centimeters near the shaman. Yoh fell down; his breathing had stopped for a split second. He blinked his eyes and put a hand over his chest, trying to clam down the beating of his heart. Then his body went stiff.

The icicle in front of him reflected him easily like a mirror. It wasn't the solidness of the ice that surprised him, it was his reflection. No, Yoh Asakura hadn't become crazy; he saw it crystal clear. Hao Asakura was smiling at him in that mirror-like item in the same body positioning as him.

He stretched out his hand to touch the cold crystal. The image of his brother did the same but the expression was different. His mouth hung open as put his face close to the reflection. He blinked a couple of times then started rubbing his eyes with both of his hands.

_I must be dreaming here. I know Hao and I look alike but…this is crazy!!! , he opened his eyes and stared back at the reflection with a hopeful smile but nothing changed. His twin remained in that icicle like a prisoner, smiling at him brightly. He leaned back, eyes filled with shock and turned up; "Hao…" he mumbled helplessly._

"Hao? What are you talking about, Yoh? You've just missed the rest of the fight!!!" his blue-haired friend exclaimed, whining like a little kid.

Yoh instantly stood up and pressed his back at the icicle behind him, trying to hide his reflection. "I did? Who won?" he asked, feigning a curious look and a playful grin.

"Of course I won. I won't lose this early. _I will achieve the Seirei no Ou." Ren answered, speaking about himself as though he never had a team in the first place. The Ainu snapped back and in no time, they were babbling at each other, faces inches apart in this scream fest._

The itako eyes his suspiciously. "Hao…." She repeated in a voice almost as though she had seen everything Yoh had.

"No, that's not what I meant." Yoh took back, his voice slightly shaking, "I was just surprised at the icicle. I wanted to ask 'How are you?' but…." He trailed off, unsure of the lie he was making.

The fair blonde stared at the icicle then at Yoh. She didn't see anything unusual. She sighed and turned her back at him, "Obviously, I'm fine. You should be asking that at yourself; you're the one who nearly got hit by that thing." She nodded at the shard that lay near them.

The dark-haired shaman grinned and nodded casually. Tamao soon approached him and fussed over him as though he was as fragile as a newborn infant.

The fight ended peacefully with Horo horo apologizing (everyone made him fall down on his knees and bow low to ask for forgiveness). The Icemen team offered to treat them at the restaurant, which made Silva overjoyed at a new customer.

They left, laughing and throwing jokes at each other. Yoh let everyone go in front of him. He stopped, stalled for a couple of minutes and stared at his reflection. No doubt, it was his twin, now, waving at him happily, mouthing the words…

"Yoh!!! Hurry up!!!"

The shaman turned and ran towards his friends; the worried look on his face was replaced by his usual carefree grin. _Don't worry. Everything will be alright. , He scolded himself, trying to shrug off the words Hao gave to him. But, for the first time, Yoh Asakura knew he was wrong; he knew that this time, that belief wouldn't apply to him, and never will it apply._

"You have no escape from me, Yoh. I will claim what is rightfully mine." Hao's voice echoed in his twin's mind even though he never emitted a voice when he mouthed those to his brother. Yoh just couldn't help but feel that it was true.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Added notes: Seirei no Ou = Great Spirits; Umemiya Ryunosuke = Bokuto no Ryu's – yes, this is true – _real name_!!!! I found it at last!!!!

Another added note: One thing I noticed about the Icemen team is that they always do what Pino does. It's like follow the leader or something. In my P.O.V., it's pathetic.

I'm not a good fight scene writer…T_T

Another chapter down!!! I can't wait to make the next one!!!! It's just because…well…Marco *crouches down, holding stomach and laughing out loud like a madman* Well, I got this crazy – yet fun – idea about Marco!!!! I love it but…well…I hope you'll like it too because (I think) it's SOOOOOOOOOO FUNNNEEEEEE!!!!!

Anyway, tell me how OOC (Icemen team OOC!!!) it is (Joruri Soma-san said its IC but nobody else did. It's not that I don't believe Joruri-san. I just want everyone to say it because I don't believe that I can make someone _NOT_ OOC XP).

DOES ANYONE HAVE A SURE ANSWER TO MY QUESTION IN CHAPTER TWO????? WHAT'S OPACHO'S GENDER?????

I needed to emphasize that because I need it!!!!

Gomen nasai desu to every Lyserg fan there. I admit it. I absolutely THOROUGHLY hate him (not dislike, _hate) !!! He's such a darn girl!!!!! Makes me wanna go there and slash his head off…. So, now, you know that I might be prone to insulting him too much ^_^;;_

BTW, thanks for the reviews the following gave:  (signed) Joruri Soma-san, (anonymous) Kaori-san, (anonymous) Chang Wumei-san, (anonymous) A.Y. (I don't understand your review, btw -_-;; forgive me. I don't know if it was meant to criticize or flame or…uh…you know.), and (anonymous) rini zoro-san. I was expecting people to flame (none as of the moment) 'coz I know I'm a crappy author (T_T).

Well, enough of my so-called 'sorrow'. I'll give you a hint about the next chapter. It's entitled 'Appreciation'. Honestly, it's mainly (okay, not really _main_ but I consider it to be because it's the one I had fun with ^_^) fun with Marco but not much Hao though. Chapter five will have lots of him ^_^.

Just that…review please…help the needy…. 


	4. Appreciation

Yippee!!!! Fun with Marco! Fun wit Marco!!!! _Fun with Maaaaaarrrrrcccoooooo!!!!!!!_

I hate Marco, to tell you the truth, but after this, *gasps* I'll be his number one fan!!!! In one condition though…you'll see…*wiggles eyebrows*

I _cannot believe_ that there are people out there who _knows_ Yoh _and_ Anna but NOT HAO-CHAN!!! How can they neglect my little Fireball-chan?!?!?!?!?! He's soooooo darn MORE kawaii than that short-haired-guy-who-looks-like-him-and-wears-orange-headphones-that-never-once-did-I-see-him-use (HA! Revenge for people who knows Yoh and not Fireball-chan!!!!!)

Hey, don't take my nickname to Hao-chan, okay? He's Fireball-chan!!! Fireball-chan!!! ^_^ don't take it or DIE!!!!!

Anyway, here, I present to you the next chapter in this fic. Trust me, if you don't become a Marco-lover (if you are a Marco-hater – which I am) after what happens here…well…that's your problem not mine!

Disclaimer: What the heck-?! I'm all out of ideas here!!! HT owns SK!!!! Craaaaapppp!!! *starts banging head on the wall*

Take note: Each of the fights has an interval of at least five days (which means it could be more than five days but not less, okay? To lessen the confusion) unless I say – er, write, I mean, type – the interval. And I only put important fights so not all fights are mentioned here. And about Ren's weapon, he only uses that sword during his fights and carries his glaive around during his stay in Patch, etc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**            _Appreciation_**

Manta Oyamada sat across the itako under the shade of the umbrella hovering over the round wooden table. He dangled his feet and watched Horo horo fall on the seat next to him, sweaty and tired because of the training his sister insisted on him doing. He scanned the area. Anna was in front of him reading a magazine; Faust was beside the itako with his wife sitting on his knee; Tamao was on his right; The Ainu was fanning himself with his palm while his sister checked something that was surely a schedule on a handheld notebook; Ryu was out in the open, practicing kendo techniques with Tokageroh; Ren was in one corner, drinking some milk; Chocolove was beside Ryu, copying the taller shaman's actions with no avail. Everyone was there – except someone who played the most important part in this story. "Where's Yoh-kun?" he asked, looking curiously at Anna.

The group paused and all looked at him.

"I thought he was with you." They all chorused, one after the other.

The little lad shook his head. "No, he wasn't. I went to a store to buy some CD-Rs but I never saw Yoh-kun so I presumed he was with you." He explained, keeping half of his attention to Anna.

Before anyone could say anything, the itako closed her magazine and put it down the table. "Manta," she said, looking at the human through her shades, "Go find Yoh." She ordered but she never took her eyes off Manta and just continued staring, which created a serious air between them.

Ren stood up and threw his bottle to a nearby trash can. He snatched his glaive and turned around, "Let's go and find that lazy bum." He muttered.

Without saying anything, the rest followed, scattering around to find their target easier. It wasn't that it was rare for Anna to worry about Yoh; in fact, she always had been worried about her fiancé even though she tries to hide it all the time. It was Anna's request of looking for Yoh and she said it with her full attention. Surely, the itako wouldn't worry like that if there wasn't anything wrong.

Everyone left Anna in that shade. When she was sure that nobody was there, she dropped her magazine and stood up, heading for the point where the forest ends and its highest peak.

Yoh Asakura stretched his arms and stared at the desert-like horizon. He was sitting under a large oak tree, leaning on the bark and facing the desert part. On the other side of the tree was the Seirei no Ou but he chose not to face it for it brought back unforgettable memories about his experience with Hao. And why was he in such an atypical place? One plain reason: he didn't want to see his brother's face.

Ever since that incident in the fight between the Ren team and the Icemen team, he had been prone to staying away from mirrors. He even overturned the mirror in their room but none objected or even noticed the change. And would you believe? He left harusame untouched for days and, sometimes, leaving it in their room.

And in this place, there were no puddles, mirrors and glasses that had the ability to show Hao in front of him. He just felt a weird sensation of guilt every time his twin appears in front of him (but, of course, he still goes to the bathroom to take a bath – even though the water reflects Hao [Naisho: O.o IYADA~!!!!! NOTHING LIKE THAT!!!!]). He can relax all he want without any disturbances. Or so he thought.

"Yoh." A stern feline voice called. It belonged to none other than our dearest itako, Anna Kyouyama.

The dark-haired shaman jumped from his place and within a second, he was up on his feet, body stiff with fear and nervousness. "A-A-Anna! What are you doing here?" he exclaimed, rubbing his head with a shaking hand.

"I should be the one asking you that. Everybody is out there looking for you and you're just here staring at a barren waste land, wasting your time like hell when you could be out there training." She scolded, glancing at the Seirei no Ou behind her then at the view her fiancé was looking at a while ago. She scowled as her eyes narrowed at the shaman in front of her. "What in the world are you looking at? You don't look at deserts." She implored a simple question of "What's happening to you, Yoh?" in her words, which Yoh instantly got.

But Yoh remained silent.

"Down." She ordered now in and angry voice.

"What????"

"_Down_." She repeated, pulling the young boy's shirt and dragging him down the peak.

The group had returned to the table; all (obviously) failing to find the missing shaman. Each had a disappointed look on their face.

"I wonder where Anna-san went." Tamao started, whispering dreamily with her mind set to Yoh instead of Anna.

From their right, a vague view of two figures, one dressed in black and the other in lighter and friendlier colors. As the two approached, their silhouettes became clearer; it was no other than the itako Anna, dragging Asakura Yoh behind her with little effort.

Anna gave Yoh a pull forward and the shaman landed on the chair which was placed in across the one she used to sit on. She gave everyone a stern stare and looked back at Yoh. "One more and you'll get it for sure." She said waving a threatening fist in front of the dark-haired shaman – or rather at the back of the shaman's head.

Yoh crouched low, burying his face in his arms. _Why did that store have to have glass windows???? , he glanced behind the itako then, quickly covered his face. For him, the image of his brother was crystal clear. Just the mere sight of the twin, waving mockingly and sneering, haunted him. And this time, Hao Asakura didn't waste time on copying Yoh's movements like a real reflection and plainly did whatever he wished, which extremely bothered the younger one; much to the amusement of the dominant shaman, who was laughing most of the time._

The itako tightened her jaw and sat across her fiancé. She picked up the magazine on the table and started rereading it to take her mind off her anger and irritation.

"Yoh!" a lot chorused after the 'terror queen' left her 'prince charming' alone. One after the other, they made an attempt to lift Yoh from his weird mood swing. All failed.

Manta sighed, staring at his closest friend worriedly. Again, Yoh glanced at his back, past the crowd of shamans towering over him. The shaman sighed and recoiled back to his original position. The little human blinked, looking at Yoh then at the glass windows across. He could see clearly the reflection of his friend. There was nothing unusual – except, maybe, that Yoh was reflected which such detail as though he was inside the mirror. Well, aside from that, nothing was different. The blonde shook his little head and shrugged. He knew Yoh wasn't the kind of person who would worry about such a small detail.

"Yoh-kun?" Manta asked, poking the shaman. He had his eyes on the mirror across them. "What's the matter? You kept glancing at that." He pointed in front of him. "I don't see anything unusual."

The addressed boy sat up straight and stiff but his body relaxed and returned to a familiar slouch when he heard the last sentence. Slowly, but cautiously, he turned around to find Hao Asakura waving playfully at him. He laughed at the bizarre antics – which he just noticed after _days – his brother was doing. "You don't see anything?" he repeated, stifling his laughter, "You don't see my reflection?"_

One after the other, the surrounding shamans turned to the glass behind them. A moment's silence…

"What?! Are you stupid?! Of course we can see your reflection!!!! It's glass for crying out loud!!!!" Ren shouted, looking at Yoh with suspicion in his eyes. He knew Yoh wasn't the type of person who would ask useless things. Something must be wrong!!! Or…he's just become mad.

"You can't call Yoh-danna that!!!!" Ryu protested but he was completely ignored – which only made his temper rise up.

The Ainu started laughing out loud pointing at the glass. "Good one, Yoh! You're even better than Chocolove at making jokes!!! You even got this one fooled!!!" he jabbed at the Chinese shaman beside him.

The guy with the afro laughed along, not caring that he was being insulted. He threw his arms up high and started patting – very hard – on Yoh's back. "Woohoo!!! You'd make a good comedian!!! He exclaimed, almost making the stronger shaman fall off his seat.

It took Yoh a couple of minutes to be fully convinced that they couldn't see Hao as his reflection. New light of hope dawned on him. _I guess this problem wasn't as big as I thought. , He said with a relieved sigh. He grinned, laughing along with his friends._

The Oracle bell stopped their fun as it rang endlessly. Everyone looked at their corresponding device.

"Don't tell me were gonna have another fight!!! Yoh's group hadn't fought a single one yet and we've already gone through three!!!!!" The blue-haired shaman complained loudly as he pressed a button on the device on his arm. He grinned, ear-to-ear, as there was no message. "Yes!!!! Not us!!!"

"I suppose it's our group then." Faust muttered, scanning his bell. He read out the message out loud, "Funbari Onsen Team versus…"

"The X Laws I team." Everyone turned to the source of the voice and found Lyserg Diethyl with Morphine sitting comfortably on his shoulder. The English shaman had his arm out in front of him, looking at the bell just the same.

"LYSERG~!!!!" Ryu exclaimed, "I don't wanna fight you!!!!!" he said, his voice in anguish with tears falling out of his eyes like a waterfall.

The figures of the remaining members of the designated opponent appeared; Jeanne still in her prim and proper outfit and graces. She smiled brightly and walked in tiny steps towards Yoh. "I didn't expect us to fight this early but, before we truly accept this bitter truth, I want to thank you for ridding this world of evil. If it weren't for your bravery, Hao would still be spreading untamed evil throughout this land." she curtsied and extended out her hand.

The Asakura stared at the offered sign of friendship worriedly. From the side of his eyes, he could read Hao's lips clearly saying, "Rid this world of evil alright. I'm right here and Yoh's hiding me from everybody." He dug his nails on the flesh of his palm, creating deep red crest marks. He forced a grin and shoved, unsuccessfully, the thought away, taking and shaking the hand Jeanne offered. "You helped me anyway, back then. We share the profit." He laughed a little; Anna staring at him with irritation.

The Iron Maiden smiled as Marco approached protectively behind her like a guard with his princess. "Blessed are those gifted with such pure souls." She sighed. "I asked Marco to plan a celebration after the fight. We will celebrate the win of whoever wins the fight. I would be very pleased if all of you would attend this event with us and Lyserg."

Before anyone could say a word, Umemiya Ryunosuke was pushing down Yoh and exclaiming proudly, "YES!!! WE WILL GO!!!!" he had his face inches away from the pale-haired girl, which made Marco put a shielding arm in front of his mistress.

Everyone agreed, not seeing anything bad about it. Hey, they were gonna get free food. So why shouldn't they accept the invitation?

"I thank you for agreeing to attend. Well, then, good luck to you in our fight. Let the best team win." She made a slight bow and left with Lyserg and Marco tailing her closely.

As soon as they were out of ear-shot, Anna stood up and pinched Yoh's cheek, stretching it out to its fullest.

"A-A-A-A-ANNAAAAAA~!!!! ITAI!!!!" The shaman screamed, jumping up from the pain inflicted on him. "What was that for?!?!" he demanded, rubbing his sore and swollen cheek. He had tears forming on the corners of his and his rubbing just made his cheek redder than what it originally was.

"Baka. Why did you accept that Iron Maiden's invitation?" she said, eyes burning menacingly, "With that Marco guy there, who knows what kinds of things he plans to do!" she exclaimed, making clear one point they deliberately missed during the 'negotiation' of the party.

"But I wasn't the one who agreed to-" he started, looking at the Elvis wanna-be for help but, in this matter, nobody could do anything against this terror queen.

Anna pointed to the long road behind them. "Thirty laps around the whole Patch village." She ordered, waving her finger in anger.

Yoh stood up and stared, remaining still in his place.

"I SAID-!!!!!"

"Hai! Hai! Hai!" he answered instantly and dashed towards the road that Anna pointed, disappearing as a pinprick of a black dot.

The itako glared at the on-looking shamans, who instantly went away, trying to fake simplicity. "Tamao! Ryu!" she shouted in her commanding voice.

"Hai!!!"

"Get me something eat. I'm hungry." She ordered, relaxing back into her former spot.

In a blink of an eye, Tamao and Ryu were gone from sight.

"Don't you know, Yoh? Pure souls are incomplete souls. Once a pure soul reaches completion, what once was there would never come back." Hao muttered but his twin did not hear anything he had said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At last, only a couple of minutes before the fight. Yoh sat on a bench near the arena they were gonna fight on. He had his back slouched, arms crossed with his head resting on his arms and eyes closed. For anyone who didn't know Yoh much, they would think that this was a lazy shaman, unaware of his surroundings and could easily be beaten. No, this Asakura was fully alert though not wide awake. He had half of his mind alert while the other half…was in deep thought about his scene earlier with the Iron Maiden. He was appreciated, too much, in his opinion. He felt guilty, rather, because he wasn't what they thought he were.

"Yoh-danna, the fight is gonna start now. Let's go and finish this fight quickly. I don't wanna fight Lyserg very long." Ryu said, shaking the more powerful shaman from his reverie.

Yoh nodded, smiling at his friend, "Yeah and let's get to that party!" he  exclaimed, swinging harusame over to his shoulders.

Murmurs were hushed and silence overwhelmed the whole area. The audience of shamans followed with intent eyes every movement the teams were doing. The guardian jumped off the ground to avoid direct contact with the participants as he announced the start of the fight.

"Ganbatte, Yoh-sama!!!!" Tamao called from the audience with the rest of the gang with her, giving him thumbs-ups and smiles.

Yoh grinned back and focused his now serious eyes at the opponent. He unsheathed his weapon and placed it in front of him with his other hand positioning over the other wooden weapon.

Lyserg and Marco jumped in front of the scarlet-eyed girl, positioning their respective weapons in front of them. The remaining members of the opposing team dashed to the two with their normal oversouls. They fought each other evenly, Ryu and Faust, pushing the two members away.

Jeanne smiled at the Asakura. She raised one hand, shoulder level, and whispered softly, "Belenos." Slowly and gracefully, the Celtic god of light appeared like the petals of a blooming flower. "This is my spirit, Belenos. Belenos is the replacement of Shamash even though I have to admit that Shamash has been a greater one." She placed her hands in front of her and Belenos positioned himself on the front. "Still, I should thank the Seirei no Ou for gifting me with an almost equal spirit." She made a sharp movement with her arms. Instantly, the god lunged for his opponent.

The dark-haired shaman created his Spirit of Sword in a split second and jumped out of the attacking range of the spirit. He steadied himself and swung up his weapon but the weak attack was easily blocked. _I guess I need to use everything I have to defeat Jeanne. Her furyoku has increased._

On the other hand, Ryu was facing Lyserg in the left corner of the arena. Both were hesitating so much that their fight was pathetic. The audience on their side was becoming noisier every second.

"What the heck are you doing?!?!?! What kind of fight is that?!?!?! You SUUUUUUCCCKKK!!!!!" a lot of them agreed and boos merged into one united scream.

"URASAI~!!!!" Ryu yelled, waving an angry fist, "If you wanna fight so much, then why don't you go down here and do it?!?!?!?!" he jabbed the air with his wooden sword, trying to start a fight with the on-looking shamans. He was answered by loud unidentified shouts and yells.

Tokageroh sighed; sweat dropped, and shrugged his shoulders. "What they're saying is true, you know. You both look like children playing with sticks."

"Lyserg! What are you doing?!" Marco called, approaching him with his silver pistol on his hand. "Do not tell me that you cannot finish off an opponent!!!! We are serving Jeanne-sama!!! We will give way to her ascend to the Seirei no Ou." He said, majestically summoning Michael behind him. He pointed the gun at Ryu, who created his oversoul in a flash as a response.

"Don't ignore me!!!!" Faust shouted in a raspy voice. He made his big oversoul and easily slammed the angel to the ground. He turned to Ryu with determined eyes, "Stand up and fight for Yoh-sama, Ryu!!!" he reminded the shaman and faced his opponent once again.

The Elvis wanna-be nodded and created his big oversoul, imitating Faust's motions.

Yoh glanced at the rest of his team and smiled. _They're still fine._

"Yoh-dono!!!" Amidamaru called, pulling his master away from the danger the opposing spirit caused.

The dark-haired shaman focused all his attention to the powerful Iron Maiden. He crouched down and pushed himself from the ground, the Spirit of Sword cutting through the wind with such an unimaginable force. Belenos dashed towards them. If none of them moved out of the way, they would certainly crash into each other and, with Amidamaru and Yoh fighting as one and Belenos only being supervised by Jeanne, it was pretty sure that Jeanne would win this crash.

But, no, they never crashed.

The male shaman made a slight move down, recoiling back to the ground and pushing himself up once again, gaining extra force. He forced the god of light backwards, towards his master. And, using the hilt of his sword, he made the shaman fall down and lose her oversoul. "Don't thank me for defeating Hao. I'm not worth of the praise you give." He muttered, looking down on the fainted maiden.

"JEANNE-SAMA!!!!"

"Kanpai!!!!" they raised their cups, glasses and cans up in the air. The X Laws team had been defeated by the Funbari Onsen. Jeanne's fall made the other members panic and lose concentration, which only led to their sole defeat. And, now, as promised, they are having a little celebration with all the expenses on the X Laws team.

"I thank you, Yoh. You have helped us so many times and this celebration is not enough to repay you of all the goodness you've brought." Jeanne offered Yoh an empty glass and filled it with water. "Especially your defeat of Hao. It was the best action you have done." She said with flattery, laughing and smiling like usual. She turned to Lyserg, who was sitting right beside her, and offered the same thing.

"No, no, it's actually nothing. You don't have to thank me." Yoh refused, forcing a fake grin

"So? How about it? Would you care to take the challenge?" Horo horo sneered, looking from Marco to Ryu and laughed. "All you have to do is to drink more than Ryu – and, of course, to stay sober." He snickered, secretly giving a thumbs-up to Chocolove, who dashed away to get tons of cans of beer. He kept staring at the blonde with mock in his eyes, actions and voice.

Marco looked uneasily at the Ainu and Ryu, feeling his collar tighten. He turned doubtful eyes at Jeanne and received a nod. He faced the two once again and fixed his now askew glasses. "Whatever this challenge may be, I will win it." He said proudly. If they couldn't win the Shaman Fight, at least, he could boldly proclaim that they had won a challenge against this team.

He snatched the can of beer from Chocolove's hand and looked at Ryu. In another moment, they were gulping the whole can's contents greedily.

Unfortunately, Marco had _never_ drank beer before in his whole life. He _only_ drank liquor and wine, which were thoroughly different from beer. He slammed the can down, finishing earlier than Ryu and grabbed another, sending it down his throat. Minutes passed and the 'saintly' shaman had finished up five cans straight.

"Whoa! You beat me!" Ryu exclaimed in amazement as he sat, still sober, in relaxation, taking sips from his tenth can of the day.

The blonde was red in the face. His smile was deformed and his eyes were blinking unevenly. "Of course I did. Aren't I the great shaman Marco?!?!" he said in demand, pushing the Ainu beside him. He pulled the blue-haired boy for support as he stood up with wobbly knees. He made a few steps and fell down on the ground, making the Ainu sit on his legs.

"What the-?! Marco's drunk already!!!!" Horo horo complained, standing up but being pulled down once again by the drunk blonde shaman.

"I want my teddy…." Marco muttered, extending his arms high in the air and waving them frantically like a little child. Ren and Faust pulled him up. "I wanna have my teddy…." He muttered once again in his groggy and sleepy voice. He grabbed Ren and gave him a tight squeeze. "Why isn't my teddy soft????" he complained, pounding on Ren's shoulders.

The Chinese shaman scrambled away, blushing madly, "What?!?!?!?! I AM NOT YOUR _TEDDY_!!!!!" he screamed, feeling disgusted at the last word he mentioned.

Horo horo pointed at Ren and started laughing. "Teddy!!! Wow!!! You _are_ sooooo right!!!!!"

"Ren Tao the teddy bear!!!!" Chocolove exclaimed, pulling down a panda costume over the Chinese's head. "Ren Tao Panda bear!!!!" he repeated with more mockery. He then received a big laugh from the Ainu beside him who was mainly laughing at Ren not at the boy's jokes.

"DIE!!!!" Ren blasted Chocolove off to the skies. But the laughing didn't stop there. The blue-haired shaman was still on his knees laughing like a wacko. He pulled off the panda costume and started his regular dose of verbal fights with the Ainu.

Marco wobbled from left to right and now landed near Eliza. He looked up and smiled at the blonde lady. "Hey, there, lady, wanna go out with me?" he asked, grinning maliciously as he threatened to place a hand on her thigh.

Faust zoomed between them and punched Marco away with mad force. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY ELIZA!!!!!" he screamed and clasped his wife's hands. "Are you okay, my dear?"

The drunk shaman caused all chaos in that celebration. The only people left undisturbed was Anna, Yoh, Lyserg and Jeanne but that wouldn't last for long.

"The lady won't go out with me. Oh well, I could have this one." He said, falling beside Jeanne and swinging a friendly arm around the little girl. "You look cute too. Wanna go out and have a drink?" he asked, forgetting the fact that this was the maiden he loyally served for years.

Jeanne took off the arm and patted him gently on the back of his palm. "Rest Marco, you need it. Let your soul and mind enter peace. Rest, I say, rest." She smiled brightly at her angel and gave Lyserg a look.

Sighing, the English shaman stood up and pulled Marco beside him, serving as a walking stick for the older shaman. "Com'n now, Marco. Let's go back to the rooms and let you have rest." He muttered, taking small steps and breathing deeply to support the weight upon him.

"Ah! Lyserg, my friend!!!" Marco gave the shaman a hug. "Don't worry about me!!! You should worry about yourself!!! Don't you know that you look like a girl? So, are you a girl or a boy????" he inquired, stupidly pinching the green-haired shaman's cheek affectionately and tapping him on the shoulders as a sign of friendship.

Lyserg froze. He let Marco walk away from him. He had his face deep in magenta.

Yoh laughed, seeing the destruction the drunk shaman caused. That was the first real laugh he had. Jeanne was overly thankful for Yoh's defeat of Hao and kept repeating her 'great thanks'. He felt like he was being squeeze as the pressure of guilt reigned upon him. And with this event now happening, he felt the enjoyment of this party approaching him easily.

Marco fell beside Yoh and looked at him. He took out his pistol and pointed it at Yoh's forehead. Everyone grew quiet. "Oh god, how could have the guts to show here, Hao? What kind of evil will you spread now? You should die!" he stated in an uneven tone, still, with the deranged smile on his face. He make a move to pull the trigger but Anna wrapped her itako beads on the gun and confiscated it.

"We should really take him back to the room." Lyserg muttered, pulling the shaman up.

Yoh stood up and turned back to the hotel. "I think I should go back now. I need to do something." He excused himself and left in a hurry.

"Okay then, but you really don't have to leave. The party's just starting." Lyserg called but Yoh never heard him.

The Ainu proceeded to help and slung the drunk shaman's arm over his shoulder. "Crap, this guy's such a bother. Look! He made such a big mess!" he pointed to the clutter of crushed cans and broken glasses. "We should really get him out of here."

But before they could take another step, the Oracle bell rang. Horo horo looked at his and read, "The Ren team versus The Ly-ly five team." He stopped and stifled a laugh.

"Yes! We are your opponents and we are gonna start the fight here _and_ now!!!!!" Sarona jumped from the shadows with the rest of the team behind her.

"Oh god…more trouble."

Yoh closed the door behind him silently. He approached the upturned mirror and straightened it up so that he could see his reflection clearly. The moonlight crept softly inside the room, illuminating the identical faces of the two: Yoh and Hao Asakura.

"Tell me why you're here." Yoh demanded, his nails digging on his palm's flesh.

Hao smirked, "Thought you'd never ask."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One thing annoying about uploading chapters fast is that you rarely get reviews. You don't get much (this is soooooo true). And if you don't upload early, your story sometimes gets neglected. What the heck…*sigh*…at least someone's reviewing here.

I don't know what Belenos looks like…. I hope he'll fit this though….

Another thing…T_T…something's wrong with our speakers…T_T…. I can't play my Mankin anymore (NOOOOO!!!! _No more Northern Lights_!!!! *dies*)…. No more inspiration…. (Oversoul!!!! Trust You!!!! Omokage!!!! Ryuro!!!! IYADA~!!!!) T_T….

Anyways...

*raises hand high in the air* I WILL BE THE FIRST MARCO-WHEN-DRUNK FAN!!!! Ain't he sooooooooooo lovable there???? I hope Marco gets drunk for real!!!!! *starts chanting sutras*

Anyways, what do you think? Still sucks, ne? Ne? Ne? Yappari. (Oh, btw, let me punch *rolls eyes* _Jeanne-sama!!!)_

WHY IN THE WORLD CAN'T I INCLUDE THE POWER SPIRITS CORRECTLY?!?!?!?! Why do I neglect the other characters too much?!?!?! Ah, craaaaapppp *sulks in one corner, writes "Include all characters and their power spirits* on a Post-it and stamps it on forehead*

I think this chapter gave hints about the next one already but…oh well…I'll give one too. Next chap is entitled "Truth". More of Hao and Yoh there *grins* but this ain't yaoi nor shounen-ai *grins more*. I don't do those stuff *gives a peace sign*. Don't worry. I'm neither an anti-yaoi person nor a yaoi-person; I'm somewhere in between.

Hmm…"Truth" is about…well…explanations mostly (don't worry; I'll answer all questions on the 12th chapter. Yes, there will be a 12th chapter which will only consist of Q&A). Of course, we still get to see a little of Marco-when-drunk ^_^

There's really just something I would like to add…insert this in any part of this chapter or the next. You decide. Mind you, this is just something I did for fun. Nothing else ^_^

Yoh Asakura was skipping on his steps as he passed a wall of glass with a grin on his face. Beside him, inside the mirror, Hao was walking, his hands on his back with a smile identical to that of his twin. So far, there had been no friction between the two. Yoh had gotten used to Hao appearing out of nowhere (of course, in something that can reflect) so he had no worries – for the moment.

Luckily, he was alone at that time. Amidamaru had been left in his room. Anna had ordered him to go get a couple of things for her. It had just rained and puddles were everywhere and Hao had been with him every second, scolding him for being such an underdog to that itako. Yoh just smiled and nodded, ignoring the angry calls of his twin.

The dark-haired shaman got the things needed and rushed out of the store.

_Hmm…Hao seems to copy almost everything I do. I wonder if he'll fall if I tripped. , he snickered as an image of his brother tripping down, his face hitting the ground hard, flashed in his mind._

"Yoh." Hao called but he was ignored. He didn't have much of care for the moment. He could enjoy this time for himself and for Yoh. After he was finished with his business here, well, let's just say things will go alright. No need to rush. He had all the time to himself anyway. "Yoh." Again, he called, now with much force and anger. He pointed a finger to a medium-sized rock.

Yoh laughed a little, failing to notice his brother's warning and…

"Hey, Yoh? You okay?" Hao crouched down, prodding an imaginary figure of his twin.

"Why didn't you trip too???" The younger shaman lay face front on a big puddle of mud, his clothes ruined and – oh my! – his groceries!!! Wait till Anna sees this!

"What did you do?!" the itako hollered with anger in his voice. She help up a muddy plastic bag in front of her and threw it in front of her fiancé. "You look like you just jumped into a mud puddle!!!"

"Which is _exactly what he did." Hao muttered, staring in disbelief at his brother from the mirror near the two less inexperienced shamans._

Yoh forced a laugh and rubbed his head apologetically. "Well, uh, I wasn't…"

"How do you expect to be the Shaman King if you're as careless as that?!"

"If only you were listening to you onii-chan, then none of this would've happened!!!!"

"You're always accident prone!!! After all this years, don't you ever learn?!?!?!"

"In the first place, you never should've agreed to do this itako's bidding!!!!"

Yoh cowered before the presence of the two.

"WHAT KIND OF SHAMAN ARE YOU?!?!?!" both hollered at the same time, not noticing the other.

Yoh crouched, bending his knees at the pressure the two dominant presences gave him.

Anna sighed and pointed at the muddy contents of Yoh's groceries. "Go make dinner now!!! Or go run laps around Patch village!!!" she ordered, returning back to her sanctuary – the T.V.

Yoh passed the mirror, his twin muttering, "If you only listened-"

"Shut up." Hao smiled brightly and gave a little mocking laugh.


	5. Truth

Ah…crap…I hate myself…. Why in the world am I running out of ideas?!?!?!?! Darn speakers…no more Mankin for me…*sulks in one corner*

No, I take that back; I'm not running out of ideas, I'm running out of inspiration and a will to write my fic…crap…crap, crap, crap…freakin' crap…. Should really find inspiration…somewhere….no, don't worry, it's not the lack of reviews. I _always_ get through that though it _sometimes_ affects my speed in writing (only increases and _never_ decreases)

Well, anyway, (^_^) Marco-drunk is still here.

Writer's block…oh shoot….*bangs head on the keyboard*

Disclaimer: I claim to not claim the claiming of the claimed show claiming to be known as Shaman King, which is claimed as Mankin by the supposedly disclaiming fans.

Crap, even my mind's starting to get misty…look at that stupid disclaimer. Hope you understand though.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**            _Truth_**

A light tap startled the dark-haired shaman. Yoh turned around and swiftly – yet quietly – went to the door, pressing his back against the cold rough wood.

"Yoh-sama? Are you there?" called a high-pitched voice that belonged to a certain pink haired girl without a doubt. She knocked at the door once again and put her hand on the knob.

Yoh pushed back with all his might as he noticed the knob on his side turn to open. "Yes, uh, Tamao, what is it?" he whispered in his normal voice to erase suspicion. He hand his hands clenched, knees bended with his feet firmly placed on the ground. His body was stiff and he had his eyes nervously turned to the door behind him. Across him, the form of his twin was inside there, laughing.

"Ah! Yoh-sama! The Ren team is gonna have a fight against Ly-ly five. They asked me to call you." She said, sighing with relief, but her worrying came back when Yoh failed to answer her. "Yoh-sama? Daijobou dane?" she asked, trying to push the door open but only found it stuck.

"Uh…yeah; I'm fine, don't worry. You can proceed to the fight now. I'll follow afterwards. I just need to do something." He turned at his brother, who was crouching down and looking at him with amazement, his chin resting on the palm of his hand.

"Okay. Are you sure you're alright, Yoh-sama? Are you sure you aren't sick?" she asked worriedly, tapping lightly on the door.

Yoh nodded, even though Tamao couldn't see him. Hao pointed to the door, now standing up straight, "I don't think your little friend there could see you nod." He said with a smirk on his face. He laughed afterwards when he saw his brother's blank expression. "You know what; you look kawaii when you act like that. You should do it more often." He said in hilarity and chuckled more afterwards.

Yoh scowled, blushing a bit at his brother's words. "Yeah, I'm alright, Tamao. You can leave now." He shouted, now with more force in his voice. He faced his twin once again, only to find him laughing at him once again.

The slowly vanishing sound of footsteps told them Tamao's departure. The dark-haired shaman sighed and slid into a sitting position with his back still leaning on the door. He turned insulted eyes at his brother and stared, his face slightly red. "What are you laughing at? Just because I'm the one having trouble here doesn't mean that you can just laugh like that." He spat but his voice wasn't angry. It was still calm.

"No, you don't understand." Hao stopped laughing and copied his brother's sitting position. He pointed one finger at him and said, "You really do look kawaii when you're confused but nothing beats your face when you're angry. So amusing. And you're blushing. Never got a compliment before about your looks?" he smiled brightly and softly. _Good, situation under control. I guess my little otouto isn't as hard as I thought._

Yoh looked down on the floor and replied, "Not really, Tamao said something about that once but she was stuttering too much and I couldn't understand anything she was saying." He felt a sort of openness in him, a weird kind of openness. No, not that type of openness; not the type of openness he always feels with his friends, family and acquaintances. It was different; like saying without talking, understanding without thinking.

_Maybe it's just because he's my twin. We are__ family, in some weird way or so. , he stood up and stretched his arms. He yawned a bit then shook his head. "Let's not get away from the topic." He muttered, now with serious eyes._

"The knob." Hao looked at the bronze metal attached to the door. "If you don't wanna be interrupted, then close that damn door." He ordered, with a force in his voice similar to that of the itako.

Without further questions, Yoh pressed the lock, his back facing the door as though unconsciously obeying his brother's order. He walked towards the mirror, the moonlight slowly creeping deeper into the darkness of the isolated room. The pale silvery light swallowed the mirror, making Hao's figure hazy and soft.

Tamao approached the cluster of shamans in the middle of the street. She settled herself between Manta and Ryu, her hands clasped at her back. She focused her eyes on the positioning shamans and started to impatiently toy with her fingers.

"Uh…Tamao? Where's Yoh-kun?" Manta asked, looking up at the young girl beside him. "He left Amidamaru here." He held up a black tablet. The said spirit nodded in agreement, tears flowing continuously from his eyes.

Tamao jumped, startled at the sudden question given to her. "Uh, well, uh, Yoh-sama said he would follow after me." She answered, stuttering a little bit. She looked behind her and bit her lip. She started to impatiently tap her foot, nervously looking back and forth from behind her shoulder.

"Don't worry. He'll come as he said. He always keeps his word, right?" the small blonde reassured, smiling softly at the young girl.

"I guess you're right." She answered back, a small smile now entering her face, washing away all the signs of worry.

The guardian – a particularly jumpy and energized one – created a shrill, ear-piercing note on his whistle, which thoroughly irritated the surrounding shamans – except for the drunk blonde. He ignored the stares of the two most dangerous human beings there a.k.a. Anna the itako and Ren Tao and continued blowing on the annoying whistle for ten consecutive times, completely forgetting about the fight he was supposed to be hosting.

"Mou yamete!!!!" Tamao and Pirika screamed in whining voices, their hands clasped tightly at the sides of their heads.

Anna stood up, a shadow across her face. Everyone, including the opposing team, looked at her intently as she approached the guardian, who was still engrossed in his little whistle. 

Silva could hear the weird familiar whistles from afar. He had decided to see how their new guardian – or rather, their highest ranking trainee – in his first hosted fight. Ever since two of our current guardians were taken away from the group, we were searching for a replacement. Unfortunately, the trainee, even though he was the best, was too much of a bubbly person and could easily be carried away by _anything he does._

The whistle went to an abrupt stop. The guardian dashed to the scene at that instant.

There, on the ground, was the young guardian, eyes in spirals with the whistle broken in a million pieces. The sight of the itako standing beside him with menacing eyes gave Silva all the answers to his questions.

"Ah, Anna-san, gomen nasai." Silva approached, waving his hand apologetically at the competing shamans. "Schwarz was just a little carried away. He's always like that. Gomen. He's just a trainee." He explained, putting the young guardian's arm over his shoulder.

"If I hear his stupid whistle again, I'm gonna send both of you to hell." She mumbled, recoiling back to her previous position.

Silva forced a little laugh as he tried to shake Schwarz awake to no avail. He sighed, leaving the shaman on a place away from the fight. He turned back to the fight, raised one arm and cut the air with one sharp slash. "The fight begins NOW!"

Yoh, despite the fact that he would be more comfortable in a slouching sitting position, remained standing straight, eyes completely focused on his reflection.

Hao chuckled. "Don't look so glum. I'm not gonna kill you. Besides, I obviously can't if you care to notice." He opened his arms as though trying to catch his brother or something. "Or do you wanna fight me in a staring contest? I'm very good at that, FYI." He grinned, shrugging his shoulders.

The other let out a small smile but then, that didn't last for long and was quickly replaced by rare serious eyes and a thin stern mouth. "Tell me everything, please. I wanna be there in time to see even just the end of the fight." He said, looking straight into the dark pools of his brother's eyes.

But the dominant shaman ignored his plea. "You know what, our personalities are getting mixed. I'm getting too carefree and you're getting too serious; must be the aftereffect of existing within you." Hao looked at his twin, grinning ear-to-ear. "Not such a big problem for me though." _Because I can easily dominate in this situation._

Yoh blinked, getting startled by Hao's statement. He forced a smile and shook his head. "No, I'm not like you, Hao. I'm me and you're you." He explained, a slight shake in his voice. "Why do you keep making me go off-track?!" he exclaimed in despair, taking on step closer to the mirror.

The smile vanished in a flash. "Why?! Is it wrong for a brother to wanna make his time with his twin longer?!" he spat back, his fists shaking in anger. "Do you really hate me that much?!" he shouted, reaching the highest peak of his voice but unfortunately, only his twin could hear him.

Yoh recoiled back, eyes focused on the cold floor of the room. "Yes." He answered in a vague faltering voice. He felt his breathing hold.

"I don't." Hao answered, his temper now cooling, "I don't hate you. I would never hate you, no, not again. You're my twin, my other half." He said softly but no smile entered his face.

"No…I don't know…. I don't know if I hate you or not. You're just too…well…too…."

"I know."

Yoh, for the first time that night, smiled truly at his twin. "You don't have to worry about that time spending thing. Didn't you just say that you exist within me?" he put a hand over his chest, "Then we'll always spend time together." He grinned, laughing a little.

The older one sighed, his shoulders relaxing and his fists becoming loose. "Yin and yang, Yoh; yin and yang." He answered, putting a hand on the glass.

The Ren team yawned and stretched their arms as a sign of boredom, which irritated the other team greatly.

"Go team Ly-ly five!" both Ally and Millie, the members who didn't participate in this fight, cheered behind them, waving their hands frantically and scattering colored and shiny confetti, which came out of nowhere, to their team members.

"Oh? You have a cheering squad behind you?" Ren laughed in mock, "Do you seriously believe that you can win against us? Even Horo horo's a big enough challenge to you. So what makes you think you can compete with me?" he sneered, swinging his sword around in his weakest oversoul.

"What do you mean by that?!" the Ainu spat back, animatedly bobbing his head up and down, left and right, sprouting out all seeds of anger within him.

The Chinese shaman took no notice of him and just turned his back at the fight. "I have no time to waste my furyoku with you." He said, proudly leaving the scene.

"Come back here!" Sarona shouted, furiously waving Enla Enla in the air. She stomped her feet and stiffened her shoulders. "We can beat you!!! The Ly-ly five team is historical!!!! We're the girls that made Hao pissed off!!!!"

"Aaaaachooooo!!!!!" Yoh and Hao covered their mouths at the same time with identical gestures. They both shook their heads and said, "I must be catching a cold." In a simultaneous manner which really showed that they are twins.

Hordes of laughter erupted from the Ren team's side including all the audience.

"We are!!!!"

"Yeah, you are." The Ainu nodded, laughing a lot, now forgetting his vengeance at the yellow-eyed shaman.

Ren smirked, "Go finish the fight off now, Horo horo. You'll be more than a match for them!" he ordered, putting a hand over his mouth and straightening his face before anyone could notice his expression.

Instantly, the blue-haired shaman pivoted towards the Chinese and shouted, "WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO?!?!?!?!" he stomped his feet, "And what the heck do you mean by that?!?!?!?!"

Taking the chance, the members of the opposing team created their oversouls and went for an attack.

"Ha! The basics of fighting are to never ignore your enemy and keep focused!!!!" Sarona said in a triumphant voice as the three all focused their strengths on Horo horo.

"Hey! Don't you ignore me! Come back here, you weasel!!!!" the Ainu shouted at their group leader, taking no such notice to the three girls.

"Onii-chan!!!!!"

"Would you shut up?! I'm trying to say something here!!!" with one swing of his oversoul, he sent Sarona and the others flying off him. He sighed in irritation and turned back to Ren.

The Chinese shaman smirked, "What happened to 'who are you to tell me what to do'?" he pointed to the fallen team with the tip of his sword, "You just did what I ordered. How stupid." He snickered, walking away from the Ainu.

"NANDA'TO?!?!?!"

"The stupid flying iceman with his scary spiky teddy bear!!!!!" Chocolove pointed to the sky in a position similar to that of the Statue of Liberty.

Pirika's laugh resonated from behind them. "Chocolove, you are toooooooo FUNNEEEE!!!!!" she kicked her legs up high – which caused those around her to leave – hand clasped on her stomach and tears on the corner of her eyes.

"Ooh! I want that teddy bear!!!!" Marco raised his hand, stretching it up to the sky, standing up with wobbly knees. He laughed out loud then fell down on the ground, face red and hiccupping.

Simultaneously, Ren and Horo horo gave Chocolove one strong punch. In no time, the jester's face was brushing on the ground.

"Yin and yang….?" He repeated. He blinked a couple of times, staying silent for minutes. Finally, giving up with an overly squeezed brain, he asked, "What do you mean yin and yang? Isn't that the black thingy with the white thingy and dots in a circle?????"

_O god, I can't believe my otouto!!! How stupid could he get?!?! , He slapped his forehead hard. "I was right. You are an eyesore." He moved his hand over to his face, bending his head down, and peeked through his open fingers. "How can you call yourself a shaman?" he mumbled, "Yin and yang is one of the most basic principles of shamanism! I can't believe I lost to someone who doesn't even know that!" he shook his head in dismay._

"Hey, no one ever said anything about that during my shaman training!" Yoh protested, pouting like a little kid.

Hao raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

The younger twin stared back in his eyes and slowly, memories about the lecture Yohmei gave him entered his mind along with the rest of his training days wherein he felt so lazy, so tired, that all they said went into his ear and exited through the other. He put one finger on his chin and looked up, "Uh…maybe 'jiisan said something about that and…uh…'baasan…and 'tousan…and…uh…'kaasan…and…uh…Anna…and, uh…well…the students back in Izumo and…uh…." He turned back to his brother and grinned, sweat dropped, "Too many too mention." He laughed.

_Forgetful kid, eh? Doesn't know how to listen either. How the heck did the Asakura clan train my otouto? I pity him. I could've done way_ better!_ , "You never listen, do you? What if I don't tell you anything then? You mightn't be able to process what I say. I'll just be wasting my breath." Hao turned his back at his twin and smiled, knowing what his brother __might do._

"NO~!!!!" Yoh called, pounding on the mirror. "Come back! Come back! I'll listen! I'll listen!" he shouted, persistently.

_But that fault all adds up to your charm, ne, Yoh? , "You promise?" the dominant shaman smiled brighter, his back still facing his twin._

"Promise. Cross my heart. Hope to…uh…"

"Live." Hao filled in, turning to face the younger shaman.

Yoh stood back once again, now in a more comfortable slouching position though not sitting.

"Yin and yang. One cannot exist without the other." Hao explained, "Simple as that." But Yoh's face remained blank and confused. Sighing, he mumbled in a monotonous and exasperated tone, "Which means that if I die, you die too."

"Oh…" the dark-haired shaman nodded slowly. "But then why didn't I die when you did?????" he exclaimed, suddenly checking if he's still alive or not.

Hao laughed, amused at his brother's weird antics. "Because my body died but my soul didn't." he explained, "Being my other half, or, to make it simpler, my extra self-" he stopped, blinked and looked at his twin's jaw dropped expression then laughed once again. "I know, take a torchlight and two pieces of anything solid but be sure to make it small."

Yoh rushed off to find the things Hao asked for. He returned with the flashlight and two calling cards. "What am I supposed to do with these?" he questioned, still befuddled with the items in his hands.

"I'm only gonna say this once so listen carefully." Yoh nodded, "Hold the two cards in front of you in one straight vertical line like this." Hao made placed his hands in front of his, showing him a side view. _God, I feel so pathetic here…but it is for my otouto's sake. I'll take revenge for making me do this. , "Then, take the torch and shine it on the first card. So, all in all, in one straight vertical line, it would proceed as this: the torchlight with it's mouth facing the following card, the first card – obviously – then the last card. Take note that the first card is overshadowing the last one." He explained, grinning as he watched the younger shaman hold the torch in his mouth in difficulty.__ You could use your shaman powers, you know, but you look so amusing that way. , he laughed and received a side glance from his brother. _I'll let you suffer like that.__

"Wurryu lafffinar?" he mumbled through the flashlight, "Disherrery haryu no."

Hao understood what he said but chose to overlook his complaints. "Let's just say that the light the torch gives off is my soul." He went into a more familiar sitting position with his chin resting on the palm of his hand, "The first card is my original body and next card is you." He said simply like a teacher teaching a kindergartener student, "If my original body, the first card, is destroyed – you can take that card away." He pointed, "Then…what happens?"

"Orrr…yeshole gowshtoo myvorry!!!" Yoh exclaimed, nodding his head, which made the light follow his head's direction. "Arraysing!!! Yurshow gugack kishing!!! Woyou akisher gefowr?" he put down the items and spit out the flashlight then wiped his lips with his shirt.

Hao shook his head. "No, not actually a teacher but close to it. More like a trainer for the students of the Asakura clan." He answered, looking with such delight at his twin. He laughed once more and stood up straight, extending his arm to his brother, then took it back. "It's such amiss. I can't touch you or anything. My only weapons here are my words." _And the Supi but you don't have to worry about that – yet._

Yoh stood up. Now, _he_ was the one copying Hao's movements yet, he didn't notice it. He had a smile on his face and a contented soul. _I guess Hao wasn't as bad as I thought. In fact, he's pretty nice._

Hao sneered; his old scary eyes and smile returned, which his twin failed to notice. "Yoh." He called, pressing one hand onto the glass divider.

Yoh followed, putting his hand on the same place his onii-chan did.

"Did Mikihisa tell you?"

"About what?"

"That I could seriously take anything."

"Anything?"

"Anything…yes…." He smirked, "Anything from you!!!!" he laughed crazily. The mirror became liquefied and his fingers broke free from the boundaries created by the glass, intertwining with his brother's in a tight clasp. "And you can't do anything about it."

Yoh screamed, struggled and pulled with all his might to break away from his brother's grasp but, no matter what he did; Hao's grip was as solid as ice.

Anna turned her head sharply to the direction of the hotel they were staying in. _Was it just me or did I just hear Yoh a while ago?_ , she pondered; eyes twitching in annoyance at the noise Yoh's friends were creating.

The fight had finished off quickly. The Ly-ly five team was too persistent, which was the reason for their loss. Why? Ren got too annoyed at broke all their oversouls – not their mediums. So, they left in disappointment.

Ren and the others were to go back in their celebration but Lyserg insisted on bringing back Marco to the hotel because he had caused enough trouble for the night. Unable to resist, they all followed.

"Thanks for helping me bring Marco here. I couldn't have done it as easily as this without you." Lyserg bowed, smiling at his friends with half an eye alert for any movements Marco will make.

Jeanne curtsied and thanked them for the help they gave.

"Where the heck is Yoh?! I thought he said he was gonna be there!!!!" Horo horo complained, "Man, now he didn't see how we won the match." He sighed, shrugging his shoulders in disappointment.

"Yeah, where _is_ Yoh-kun?" Manta asked turning his head to Tamao who shook her head vigorously in denial.

One after the other, they asked in utter confusion about the lack of the presence of the dark-haired shaman.

"He's in the hotel, right? We should go there and ask him why he didn't come to the fight." Manta suggested.

Everyone agreed; nodding as they followed Ryu and Horo horo back to the hotel – of course, after saying their good nights and good byes to the X Laws team.

Anna bit her lip and tightened the grip on her elbows. _I hope what I heard was just an illusion._

"Hey! Yoh!" the Ainu pounded on the door but no one came to answer. He rattled the doorknob but only found it locked securely from the inside.

"What's taking you so long?" Chocolove asked, approaching the blue-haired shaman.

"It's locked."

"Let me." Ren pushed Horo horo away and started violently shaking the door. "What the-?! Why in the world would Yoh lock the door?!?!?!?!" he yelled in irritation, kicking and punching the wood.

Anna clenched her fists and tried hard to get rid of her worried expression but it was no use. "Get out of there." She ordered voice a little shaky and forced. She took her turn in front of the door and, with one easy kick, the door swung open with a loud crack. "Yoh?" she asked, looking from left to right as the rest of the gang entered after her. She stopped abruptly and gasped; eyes wide-open.

Behind her, the other froze in their places as worried looks appeared on each of their faces.

There, in the hazy beams of the moonlight, lay Yoh Asakura with his back leaning on the mirror behind him, seemingly lifeless. He looked exactly like the time when Hao ate up his soul: expressionless.

"Yoh!"

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For those didn't understand Yoh's mumble-talk....

            Wurryu lafffinar? = What are you laughing at?

            Disherrery haryu no. = This is very hard, you know.

            Orrr…yeshole gowshtoo myvorry!!! = Oh…your soul goes to my body!!!

            Arraysing!!! = Amazing!!!

            Yurshow gugack kishing!!! = You're so good at teaching!!!

            Woyou akisher gefowr? = Were you a teacher before?

Trust me, I tried it. It really does sound like this (yeah, I know; "kishing" sounds like "kissing") but not with a flashlight of course ^_^;;

Okay, that down. Sorry if it took so long. It wasn't because I wanted to get more reviews but I really need to listen to my anime MP3s, any MP3s, but the speakers are broken (or rather, not yet installed because some virus infected the PC and we had to fix it; luckily, I have my files saved in the hard disk, which didn't get deleted ^_^) and, well, I'm the only one who actually favors anime in this house so am not free to use the stereo and my Discman is broken too (T_T). How accursed could I be?

I _really, really_ hope that I get enough hyper-drive to make the next chappie. Usually, once I finish an okay chap, the inspiration continues till the end. I hope it does here too.

And speaking about the next chapter? It's entitled "Clue". Sorry, in no mood to say anything solid about the next chap.

Complain all you wanna, about the genre, summary, rating, story, title, _THE OOCNESS_ (especially Fireball-chan's a.k.a. Hao because I don't know how much about his chara), etc. You know the call. Flames are welcome.


	6. Clue

Sorry for the long wait, you guys. I'm in a deep writer's block and I can't seem to break it down… *sigh*

Besides, I'm only doing this because Okami-san reviewed and asked me when I'm gonna finish this. Hai, that's how easily I'm persuaded -_-;;

Well, here's the next chap. Thanks to everyone who reviewed (though I usually refrain from doing this but…well…I _am_ grateful): Okami-san, mikaii-san, miyu-san, Joruri-san, Hikaru-san, Kaori-san, Chang Wumei-san, blaze1029-san, rini zoro-san, A.Y.-san. I don't know what happens but some of the reviews (mainly those not signed) don't show up in that review alert thingy so this I only read some of the reviews just now.

Disclaimer: Shaman King will never be mine.

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**CHAPTER SIX**

**            _Clue_**

"How's Yoh?" Manta asked as soon as Faust came out of the room.

The blonde shaman sighed and shook his head. "He's still unconscious. I've cleaned up his wound and it stopped bleeding." He kept standing and fixed his gloves in a solemn manner. "Whatever happened is a pure mystery. I'm sure the wound isn't the reason for his loss of consciousness. I can't find any traces or signs of drugs, poison or anything else either." He took a seat near the human and sighed once again. "And the wound on his hand…the weird thing about it was that it looked like it was burned and cut deeply at the same time. But it couldn't have been burned. There was neither a sign of fire in the room nor any smoke at all."

The others sighed.

"What do you think happened last night? I don't think Yoh would be attacked though and if he ever was, there should be some signs or something, right?" the Ainu asked the shaman nearest to him, which was Ren.

Ren remained silent and unmoving. He had his eyes closed; arms and legs crossed, and he was leaning on the wall behind him. He looked like he had no such care about the situation but everyone knew better.

Horo horo sighed and stretched his arms. "All this waiting is making me numb." He mumbled.

"There was nothing in the room last night; nothing that indicates any struggle whatsoever." Ren mumbled, talking for the first time in hours. "The only one

"If I was there with him, then none of this would've happened…." Said the samurai spirit in a completely depressed voice. He sighed then slouched his shoulders inward.

Manta looked at the spirit sympathetically. As far as he knew, none of them could've done anything. "It's okay, Amidamaru." He muttered, forcing a small comforting smile on his face.

A flush of pink flew past them. Everyone turned to the room's door and found Tamao holding a basin of lukewarm water and a towel in her hands. She pushed open the door and squeaked, letting half of the water splash to the floor.

"Uh…Anna-san…I didn't know you were…uh…here…." She pushed the basin towards the itako and bowed low. "I was thinking that maybe Yoh-sama could use this." She said, blushing in deep red.

Anna stared at the basin, "No need for that."

"But-!!! Yoh-sama! He-"

The itako glared at her and raised on of her eyebrows. "I said no need for that. Yoh is not sick." She explained, pushing the door fully open. "He'll resume his training tomorrow." She said, eyes darting to the bed. "You won't escape the training just because you were in bed. In fact, it should be doubled because you were utterly helpless last night – whatever it is that happened."

The dark silhouette slowly cleared into view. He bowed, rubbing the back of his head and forced a laugh. "Hai, hai." Yoh Asakura was finally awake.

Tamao gasped, dropping the basin on the floor with a loud clank. "YOH-SAMA!!!!"

All the waiting shamans stood up, pushing chairs and benches on the way. They all scuttled to the room, cramping inside the room. Anna turned away and left.

"Yoh!!!" Horo horo jumped onto the bedside and embraced the dark-haired shaman in a tight headlock. "How could you make us worry like that????" he beamed, ruffling the shaman's hair.

Ryu nodded, standing beside the Ainu. "Yeah, Yoh-danna!!!! How could you?!?!?!?! We were so worried!!! I couldn't even sleep last night!!!!" he whined.

"Stop the fussy talk and tell us what happened." Ren stared, eyes narrowing at the shaman.

The Ainu released him and stepped away, positioning himself near the Chinese shaman. "Yeah, what happened? Don't tell me you got attacked!" he pointed at the bandaged arm.

Yoh lifted his hand and looked at it, closing and opening his palm repeatedly. An eerie silence overwhelmed them all and to think that this was coming from the usually jovial shaman was hell. He had a thin line on his face, eyes staring seriously at the wound. A moment's silence then…

A snicker…

A chuckle…

A laugh…

Yoh Asakura was laughing out loud and used the wounded hand to scratch the back of his head. He threw back his head and slouched, "I don't know! I don't know what happened!" he stuck out his tongue and shrugged his shoulders.

All fell down, sweat dropped.

"Do any of you know?" he inquired the nearby shamans with innocent eyes. He straightened his back and gazed at the empty space with a clear look. He closed one of his eyes, rested his chin on his palm and sighed, "Really, I don't. Funny, isn't it?" he chuckled, "All I remember was getting back here and Tamao calling me to go to your fight then I saw myself here." He explained.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!" Ren hollered, waving his fist in the air.

"No, I'm not. By the way, how was your match? Did you win?" he asked, purposely changing the subject.

"Don't start changing the-"

Yoh's face dropped, "You lost…?"

"LOST?!?! ME?!?!?! Of course I didn't!!!" Ren shouted, furious at the other shaman's presumption, "It was against Ly-ly five!!!!! What do you expect?!?! Get your brain cells to work for once, Yoh!!!!"

The dark-haired shaman stared at him, looking with serious eyes.

Ren froze. _What the - ?! Yoh doesn't look at people like this._ , he thought, unaware of the sudden attention he gave to himself.

"What?" his expression was then changed by his usual blank look, blinking stupidly.

The Chinese shaman clenched his fists, scoff marks popping of his head, "AAARGGGGHHHH~!!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!" he lunged for Yoh's neck, who was, at that time, covering his head with his pillows and blanket.

The others quickly went between the two shamans.

"Hey, calm down, Ren!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We've got burgers, fries - "

"Cut the crap, we're not here to buy anything."

For the 20th time that day, Silva's efforts to make any of the current participating shamans buy food from his stand was a failure. Nobody seemed to be interested in buying anything. _Don't they know we need the money to support this event…?_

Sighing, the said guardian leant forward, staring into space with a disappointed and worried look on his face. "I wonder if Yoh-kun is alright now. From what I've heard, he's been in a critical condition. We had to move his fights just because of that. He's lucky to have the Seirei no Ou at his favor."

Then, just at that moment, a blur zoomed past him. "I want two burgers, one large fries and - "

"You don't need to buy any of those. That's just a waste of money."

"But Anna!!!"

Silva stood up straight and blinked a couple of times. "Yoh-kun?" he called, narrowing his eyes at the young boy in front of him, who was whining at his fiancée. "You're healed already!" he exclaimed.

Yoh paused then turned to Silva, "That was three days ago but now Anna's torturing me with endless training!!!" he explained, a smile pasted on his face, "I'm so hungry…. Couldn't you give me free food or something? Anna doesn't want to spend at all." He said, eyeing the guardian with pleading eyes.

The itako's hand reached for the shaman's cheek and stretched it to the peak, "I said, you don't need any of those. Now come here and we'll continue your training." She said sharply, dragging the helpless shaman away.

"Demo-!!!!"

"You got a problem?" she gave him one of her coldest stares.

Yoh grew sweat dropped, "Uh…no…." he said as Anna dragged him under the shade of the umbrella. He gave Silva one look of pleading…asking if he can somehow lessen this torture given to him.

The guardian blinked, getting a bit speechless, "Ano…uh…Anna-san…well…since Yoh-kun's already healed, Funbari Onsen's next battle will be scheduled tomorrow at noon." He informed, watching Anna sit down on the nearest bench, "I do recommend that Yoh-kun should rest - "

"Then, Yoh _should_ get more training!" The itako stood up, "Call Ryu and Faust, all three of you should start training for tomorrow."

"Silva…." Yoh groaned.

"Which _unlucky_ team is Yoh gonna battle?" Anna asked, stopping and turning back at Silva.

Swallowing a big lump in his throat, he croaked, "Hanagumi."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So your next battle is against Hanagumi?" Manta asked for confirmation, "Are you sure you'll be fine with this, Yoh-kun? I mean it hasn't even been a week since that accident. You might be lacking strength." The young boy turned to his friend. Despite the fact that he knew what Yoh would say, he couldn't help but worry a bit. That 'accident' _did_ remain a mystery.

"Don't worry about it, Manta. I'll be fine." Yoh assured, taping Manta's back.

"You sure -?"

"You worry too much, Manta! The last time Yoh-danna fought against those pesky girls _alone_, he won with ease!!!" Ryu exclaimed, now giving him a big slap on the back, which sent Manta falling on his knees.

The Elvis wanna-be started laughing out loud carelessly. Soon, Horo horo and the others followed him.

"That's right! Everything will be fine!"

Yoh nodded. _Yeah, I hope so…_

They arrived at a barren wasteland, surrounded with towering mountains of rocks, accompanied by a scorching sun hanging right above the participants.

"Why do they have to fight at noon? It's making the heat unbearable!!!" The Ainu complained, fanning himself under the shade of the umbrellas they set up for Anna and Tamao.

"If you have a problem, then just leave." Anna said – no, _ordered_ – hogging up the biggest umbrella to herself. But she had her eyes down at the empty valley, overlooking Yoh and the others.

"Let the match START!!!"

The blue-haired leader of the group crossed her arms, circled Yoh a little then stared, "Even if you defeated Hao-sama, we still won't acknowledge your strength." She stated, getting voices of agreement from her other teammates.

"What the-?!" Ryu started but Yoh raised a hand to stop him.

Yoh shook his head, "It's okay, Ryu. Don't worry about it." He gave a little laugh.

"You killed Hao-sama!!!!" Matilda shouted, stomping her feet on the hard ground.

At her words, the rest of the team went into formation. "YOU SHALL PAY!!!!!" they lunged at Yoh but Ryu and Faust pushed away Marion and Matilda, leaving Kanna to attack their leader.

The dark-haired shaman jumped out of the way with ease, calmness still in his face.

"If it weren't for you, then Hao-sama would still be here!!!" Kanna shouted, jumping back as she pointed her finger sharply at her foe, "ASHCROFT~!!!" the said spirit attacked Yoh with speed far greater than the last time they fought.

A cloud of dust covered both the spirit and Yoh.

"Yoh-danna!" Ryu shouted but was too busy with Matilda to help the leader of their group. _Damn it! They got really good this time!_ , he blocked another attack Matilda sent with Jack though he was pushed back. "That's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy!!!!" (Naisho: Ugh! So _cliché_!!! _) Ryu's big over soul appeared.

"Yoh!" Shouts and calls of worries resonated from the point Ren and the others were staying, watching carefully.

"Don't worry. Yoh's fine." Anna muttered, eyes unchanging.

Manta turned at the itako worriedly, "But-"

"I trust Yoh."

The dust cloud cleared, revealing Yoh blocking Ashcroft with his over soul.

With one burst of effort, he threw the spirit away, sending it crashing on the mountainsides.

"Ashcroft!" Kanna shouted, running in front of her spirit. "Get up, Ashcroft! We need to avenge Hao-sama!" she screamed as the knight stood up with renewed strength.

Yoh approached, harusame empowered with his furyoku. "Hao's not dead." He clutched his chest and bit his lip yet never showed a look of uneasiness he felt. "He's not. At least, not yet." He whispered, soft enough for only Kanna to hear.

"Stop mocking Hao-sama!!!" she cried, making Ashcroft stronger. She lunged at Yoh, completely forgetting her poise, Ashcroft with her for support.

Yoh hung his head down. Using only one hand, he threw Kanna's defense up, crouched down and gave her strong kick on the stomach.

The leader of the Hanagumi landed hard on the ground with her body aching. _That move…_ She coughed a little blood then wiped her mouth with the back of her palm. A shadow hovered over her. She looked up at saw Yoh giving her a very familiar stare. "Hao-sama?" she muttered.

"I told you, Hao is not yet dead." Yoh repeated once again.

The other members of the Hanagumi stopped and looked at the two. Like Kanna, they too noticed what just happened.

Yoh stumbled backwards, rubbing his chest in a circular motion.

"Yoh-dono? Daijobou desu ka?" Amidamaru asked.

The dark-haired shaman nodded, grinning at the samurai, "Hai, daijobou." The light of Kanna's over soul vanished, leaving her helpless under Yoh's  presence.

Kanna glanced at Matilda and Marion then gave a slight nod. At that instant, both Matilda and Marion got beaten by Ryu and Faust.

"With Hanagumi's over soul gone, the win goes to Funbari Onsen!"

"AWRIGHT~!!!!" Funbari Onsen and their friends cheered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It must be true. There's no other explanation. I don't think Yoh would learn the same techniques as Hao-sama." Kanna explained to her other teammates.

"Then what does that mean?" Matilda asked, getting jumpy and excited at their new discovery.

The blue-haired female shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, signifying that she doesn't know either.

Then a tiny voice echoed from the dark chamber they were in. "Opacho thinks  that we should let Yoh-sama reach the Seirei no Ou. Opacho thinks that maybe Hao-sama is inside Yoh-sama and Opacho says that we should trust Hao-sama." The little shaman explained.

Few voices agreed with Opacho.

"Then Opacho should clear the road for Hao-sama."

"You guys should stop celebrating all the time you win. It's useless. It's not as though you already won the Seirei no Ou." Anna commented, standing behind them with crossed arms.

"This isn't just for the win, Anna-san. It's also for Yoh-kun's recovery. Winning the match just tells us that Yoh-kun's fully healed already." Manta explained, but regretted it the moment the itako stared at him. "Uh…well…I'm just gonna get something to drink."

Anna looked at Yoh the out the window. _Then why do I still feel uneasy?_

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Hehehe…finished this crappy chapter at last…yeah, _very_ crappy (it's SOOOOOO short!!!! _Only 4 pages_ T_T!!!!!!) _

Punch me anybody…

Next chap is entitled "Mystery". I do hope you guys see the connection of the title to the chapter. If not…well…we'll see….

Well…I'm gonna go hide under a rock now…*scoots off to nowhere*


	7. Mystery

**IMPORTANT:** The title will be changed to '**Onmyou**' on the next update. So, if you guys wanna find this story on the next update, look up 'Onmyou' _not_ Yin and Yang.

So guys, I never got to open my original file (all four pages gone!!!!!! T_T). Here I am, starting another one (and I LOVE my Hanagumi scene back then…*sigh* what can I do, anyway? And I haven't looked at that file for weeks! I might not remember much…). And, to add to that, I lost my outline…. ARGH! The world completely hates me T_T

Here, here, I hope _this_ can satisfy you! (It doesn't satisfy _me_…)

**Disclaimer:** I own Shaman King! *moment of silence* NOT! *laughs her sick head off*

  


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**CHAPTER SEVEN**

_Mystery_

"Kanna, how long are we gonna stay here?" Matilda complained, stretching her arms and back. "Why do _we_ have to do _all_ the work?! Can't there be anyone else? Yeah, I know we're _that_ special but, but, I wanna go and eat _now_!!!!"

The blue-haired leader of the Hanagumi waved one hand to silence her companion. "We're the only ones skillful enough to watch over Hao – I mean, Yoh-sama – we'll be watching here for eternity until Hao-sama makes a move." She sat up from her crouching position and looked at the young redhead, who seemed to not be listening at all. "Stubborn jerk." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing." Kanna grumbled then glanced at Matilda once again. She sighed then said, in an exaggerated voice, "Do you expect the _Hoshigumi_ to do this work? Opacho, maybe, but Turbine? Blocken? _Zang Ching_?????"

Marion started chuckling quietly as her eyes followed every movement Yoh was doing in the distance. Her body was pressed close to the ground, letting the grass brush her face while she kept true to her own lookout duty.

Matilda blinked a couple of times then suddenly clamped her mouth tightly to fight away the mouth full of giggles that resulted from the sudden vision she saw of Zang Ching trying to hide behind the rock she was leaning on.

_(Naisho: Uh…Zang Ching's that big Chinese guy who swings that weird yellow disc thingy, the one with shades, massive body; you should know him by now, ne? Sorry for the interruption.)_

Kanna sharply put a finger on her lips to silence the other.

The redhead nodded as she gulped the laughter away then breathed loudly.

Rolling her eyes, she crouched down once again, going back to her previous place beside the blonde. "How is it? What's happening? Did I miss something?" she quickly inquired, crawling forward to get a better view.

"The leaf's withering…it cannot stand the storm any longer…. We need reinforcements!!!" mumbled Marion, her voice not sounding as urgent as her so-called message.

Their leader blinked, jaw dropped, "Uh…whaaaat????"

The blonde sighed in irritation. She shook her head then lowered the binoculars she was using. "No – scratch that – nothing's happening yet. That itako's just torturing Yoh-sama." She muttered, again sighing deeply. "I don't think the itako would be a nuisance against Yoh-sama. As far as I know, she's his trainer."

But unfortunately, Kanna's ears only heard the 'torturing' part.

"TORTURING?!" she exclaimed, standing up in protest; Marion, trying to silence and pull her back down. "The damn itako bitch ain't allowed to do such a thing to the key to-"

"Kanna-san! Marion-san! Matilda-san!" came a distant call.

All three members of the Hanagumi turned their heads to the source of the voice…two of the three's eyes grew humongous in shock.

There, running towards them was the predator's prey, _their_ prey, Asakura Yoh.

Waving frantically, Yoh ran towards the trio, Anna and Amidamaru following closely behind. The dark-haired shaman huffed, taking short breaths, and wiped his sweating forehead with the back of his palm, "What are you doing here? Did something happen…? Or…uh…something?" He grinned, laughing a little.

Both Matilda and Kanna were speechless, staring at the Hao look-alike. Their bodies had just grown limp…and their brain…went blank. They had _never_ failed a predator-prey mission. _Never._

"Yeah, what _are_ you doing here?" Anna stared – at Kanna mostly – positioning herself just in front of her fiancé. She stiffened her shoulders then crossed her arms, tapping her fingers.

_Damn that itako._ , The leader mentally cursed, clenching her fists tightly. _And stop that irritating tapping._

Matilda stood up, stiff, then gave Kanna a quick kick on the ankles and, thinking she remained unnoticed, she added a small message, "Kanna, this is _your_ fault. Say something."

"You know, kicking each other shows _real lack_ of teamwork." Anna said, looking at Matilda's feet then straight at the redhead's eyes. "_Right_, Yoh?"

Yoh blinked, trying to find the right answer to say to his fiancée. "Ah, yeah. That's why Ryu and Horo horo aren't teammates because they love kicking each other." Said the shaman with renewed light in his face, "But I wonder why Ren and Horo horo are teammates. They kick each other _everyday_! Hmm…maybe I should tell them that it's showing _real lack_ of teamwork." He said, wondering deeply.

"That _wasn't_ what I meant, baka!" the itako muttered through clenched teeth.

Marion, after a couple minutes of observing, stood up and rid her dress of the few stray grasses. She, being closer to the younger ones, took matters in her own hands. "We were looking for somebody." She said, voice unchanging and body calm.

"What? You're planning to," she cleared her throat, "_torture_ that somebody?" Anna replied, still suspicious.

The blonde shook her head, "No, Kanna and Matilda let that guy borrow Chuck for a while because he told them that he'll fix Chuck." She explained in an _almost_ childish tone, "But he might just be torturing Chuck because I know that Chuck shouldn't be touched by anyone but me. And Chuck has always been that way and if he is not that way anymore, he will not be Chuck but somebody else." Sighing deep and long as though in sorrow, Marion hugged her arms but made her eyes stay at the itako, "Chuck's calling my name. I know he _needs_ me by his side and I need him by _mine_." Her voice gave away a pinch of sadness and her eyes became glassy.

Yoh's eyes emitted sympathy, while Anna's remained suspicious and, possibly, colder.

Before the itako could say another thing, her fiancé put a hand on her shoulder and cut her off, "Anna, we should let them go now. I don't think they're doing anything suspicious though." _That's what you think. God, you're so naïve, Yoh._ "Besides, Marion doesn't have Chuck with her. Both Matilda and Kanna have theirs. I don't think she'll just leave her mochirei if they were spying on us, ne?"

The itako's eyes grew wide in surprise. She hadn't noticed that Marion was the only one who doesn't have her mochirei. Yeah, she noticed all the other things: their nervousness and stuff. But _never_ that big fact. Has Yoh been improving without her help? Or…was it something else?

"Let's go. It's getting late." Yoh muttered, steering the itako away from the three.

Anna shrugged off Yoh's hands then walked away, eyes focused in front of her, "Don't _think_ that you weren't noticed." Said the itako to the Hanagumi as her words of parting.

Yoh grinned then shrugged his shoulders, "Bye! Good luck with finding Chuck!" he then ran after his fiancé, waving back at them.

As soon as the two were out of sight, Kanna and Matilda sighed a relief then bounded towards the blonde.

"Great work, Marion." Kanna said, acknowledging their narrow escape. "I don't think we should let them know about _that_ thing yet. I'm sure the itako would be meddling with _that_. She might even ruin it. Can't have that happening."

Matilda nodded, regaining her bubbly self, "Yeah! It was a good thing you didn't bring Chuck with us! If you did, then Yoh-sama and that itako would've sensed it!"

Marion shook her head and refused to receive her achievement, "No, I _did_ bring Chuck. He's right there, behind the rock Matilda was leaning on." She pointed, voice wispy and worried.

The two looked at each other, frozen in their tracks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm bored. There's nothing to do. Every fight we had was _useless_. There's no challenge." The Ainu complained, toying with the food in front of him. He pushed the plate away then sighed, letting his head fall down the table with a loud thud.

"If you complain so much, then go out there and jump from a ravine. The world would become a better place then." Ren said, grumbling as he put a dumpling in his mouth then drained it with his ever-faithful milk.

Horokeiu Usui narrowed his dark eyes at the Chinese then opened his mouth to spat back but…

"THEN LET'S GO TRAIN!!!!" Pirika shouted, making her brother jump up from his seat. She gripped the older one tightly on the shoulder and, with unimaginable strength, threw him forward carelessly. "We should try and copy Anna-san and Yoh!!! They train _everyday_!" 

The members of the Ren team snorted. _If you can call that training!_

"Yoh has beaten you _once_ and if we don't keep up with their pace, you might lose to them _again_!!!!!! AND THAT CAN'T HAPPEN!!!!" exclaimed the blue-haired girl, gripping the collar of his brother's shirt.

"*gasp* Ah – Pirika, I can't *gasp* breath!!!!" Horo horo muttered though he did not even struggle from his sister's grasp. He knew it was useless.

The door swung open and Pirika dropped her brother down, eyes growing as big as saucers.

"Hey, I'm free!" The Ainu exclaimed, holding out his collar in joy; Ren, rolling his eyes as he took another bite from his Chinese cuisines.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH~!!!!" the ear-piercing, high-pitched scream of the younger Ainu resonated through the whole room; _really_ ear-piercing.

All three fell on the floor, knocked out with a dizzy spell and a constant ringing in their heads.

Ren rubbed the back of his head then rolled to his side. He sat up and massaged one of his aching ears, "Urgh…that was a heart attack…."

"HEAR ATTACK!!!!!" a gong echoed through the Chinese's ears.

His yellow eyes flashed in anger as he snatched his glaive. "Chocolove…." He muttered, anger surging through every part of his body.

Well, we all know what happens to Choco.

"Th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-" stuttered Pirika.

"Whaaaatttt?????"

"There's a walking skeletOOOONNNNN!!!!!" Pirika cried, jumping up and down while poking his brother with force far greater than she was aware of.

The skeleton in front of the door rattled.

"IIIYYYYAADDDAAA~!!!!" she screamed, but this time in lower decibels (thank god!). In shock, she ran behind her brother and started clinging to his neck – hard.

"Augh…who made that _horrible_ sound?" a blonde head popped from the doorway. The blonde smiled, regained his posture then gave a wave, "Hello." He greeted, a hand securely placed on the skeleton beside him.

"It's just Faust and his weird skeleton." The Ainu whispered, trying to catch his breath as soon as his sister released her tight, neck-twisting grip. Taking one deep breath, he fell down on the ground, fainted.

And after a moment of silence…

"Uh…yeah…that was a _great joke_, Faust!!!!" Pirika exclaimed, going into her usual fits of crazy laughter.

The blonde doctor entered the room in a cheerful expression not suitable for his looks. "Well, I was just wondering if you saw Yoh-kun." He asked, turning his head in all directions, "But I guess he isn't here." Shrugging his shoulders, he skipped over Horo horo – who was stupidly lying on the ground, either acting or really passing out – then towards the door.

Ren gave a nod of acknowledgement to the doctor, "Where the heck _is_ Yoh? He's been gone the _whole_ day." He asked to nobody in particular.

Pirika went out to follow Faust – for a reason unknown to all. And the remaining shamans were…uh…out of commission; Chocolove in a not-so-good condition after passing through Ren's wrath; Horo horo, worshipping the ground with his whole body.

The yellow-eyed shaman snickered then turned his back at the two. "Guess-"

"Stupid Chinese shaman. Where else would Yoh be but with Anna in his torture training?"

His eyes darted to a certain figure on the ground, "Aren't you supposed to be dead?" he waved his glaive around, making the sharp (and sharper) blade shine with a dangerous glow.

"I'm dead! I'm dead!" The Ainu quickly dropped on the ground, hitting his forehead in the process. Ouch….

With a smirk, Ren returned back in his tracks. "That settles tha-"

"THE ORACLE BELL!!!!" Horo horo shouted, now standing up and pointing at the device strapped to Ren's arm, completely forgetting his own.

Chocolove, with renewed energy, quickly sat up, immune to pain as of the moment.

Ren grumbled to himself, rolling his eyes in irritation of being reminded of the obvious, "Why am I always interrup-?"

"It's our next fight!!!! Which unlucky team gets beaten up today?" the Ainu exclaimed, pushing the buttons of his device. His face fell; serious eyes quickly invaded his face.

"Our opponent is-"

"We fight against the Hoshigumi." Continued Horo, "Hey…isn't that Hao's team?" his voice was mixed with worry and fear, completely serious.

Scoff marks formed on Ren's head, "STOP INTERRUPTI-!!!!"

"Ren! Horo horo! You know, Anna just told me that kicking each other shows _real lack_ of teamwork!" Yoh exclaimed, jauntily hopping towards the two shamans, "I think that you should stop fighting once in a while then you'll be showing _real_ teamwork! Or…well…you know…you might piss off Anna and we all don't want that to happen, ne?"

"Hi Yoh! Faust was just looking for you a while ago." The Ainu waved, back to his normal self.

The dark-skinned shaman nodded in agreement, "We're gonna fight against Hoshigumi next. Wonder what will happen." He explained, looking at his device and pressing a couple of buttons or so.

"Oh?" The Asakura opened his mouth to add more but closed it in a hurry. He grinned awkwardly, "I'll go look for Faust now. And good luck to your fight!" Yoh waved a hand then dashed away in a hurry.

"Hmm…why was Yoh in such a hurry?" Horo horo asked nobody in particular, still busy with the 'wonders of the Oracle bell'.

"BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT TO DIE!!!!!"

Going cross-eyed in confusion, Horo horo asked, "What in the world happened to you?"

"WELL, if it weren't for _someone_," eyes the Ainu, "who kept _interrupting_ me every time I start talk-"

"I didn't interrupt you. Besides, you have nothing good to say anyway." The blue-haired shaman boasted, completely unaware of his actions.

Then Ren snapped, "Die."

The two shamans' eyes grew wide, swallowing simultaneously a big lump in their throats as they felt an odd fear climb up their spines.

"Well, I think Faust's calling us." The Ainu supplied as Chocolove whispered in an failing effort to copy Faust's voice, "Horo horo…Chocolove…." The sound that came from his mouth turned out to be a pathetic hoarse and ghost-like, uneven old lady's voice.

Both grew sweat dropped.

"Uh…eh…gotta go! Bye!" Horo horo and Chocolove ran – no, dashed – out of the room, speed increasing every second.

"COME BACK HERE, BAKAAAAAA~!!!!"

"The Ren Team? We're gonna fight against the Ren Team?" Zang Ching repeated in disbelief as his other team members nodded in agreement.

"Well, what should you do? No offense but since, Hao-sama disappeared, his recruited shamans have been a bit…well…_rusty_." Kanna muttered, sitting with the other Hanagumi members. Both Marion and Matilda gave a nod of agreement.

Turbine grumbled but remained silent still. They all knew that was true. The only people who believed that Hao was still alive were the Hanagumi and Opacho, which made them keep their furyoku in the highest level possible. The others started to lose hope.

Opacho shook his head and sat beside Marion, his feet dangling in the air. "No, Opacho thinks that Hoshigumi will do fine because what we are doing is for Hao-sama. Once Hao-sama takes the Seirei no Ou, we will _all_ be thanked by him for helping him." He said, optimistic as he was.

Some of them shrugged their shoulders but everyone was only on one side.

"But are you sure that Hao-sama's alive? His presence inside Yoh-sama isn't confirmed, you know that." Again, the Chinese shaman asked in doubt.

The Hanagumi opened their mouths in protest but Blocken got to Zang Ching first.

"Just the sole proof of Yoh-sama covering up Kanna and the others is good enough. We know all too well that he is a strong shaman. He could certainly sense Chuck but he let it slip. He even fooled the itako along." Blocken explained, speaking for the first time in hours…or days….

Again, silence overwhelmed them all. Even the humming of the youngest shaman of the group became mute. But still, they had their faith and, it was the only thing they can do:

_Clear Yoh's way even if it means spilling the blood of those close to his heart._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + $h@M@ñ k!ñ6 + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yoh sighed. It was the tenth – no, nearly the hundredth time that week that he saw Ren and Horo horo kicking each other's asses. _I thought I told them about that lack of teamwork already._ , Again, he sighed then stretched both his arms and back. "I should've known that you could never change Ren and Horo."

"Ah, Yoh-dono! There you are! Anna-san has been looking for you! She has sent me to fetch you!" The samurai spirit popped out of nowhere but failed to give surprise to his master.

"Demo…Ren and the others are fighting here! I wanna watch them!" The dark-haired shaman whined. Of course, he felt fine with doing so…since Anna was not around.

Amidamaru shook his head, "No, didn't you hear? They just announced that the fight would be held at the arena! The time was also moved earlier. There were some technical problems with the Oracle bell that's why they couldn't send it to the participants. But Anna-san's great! She got the information from one of the members of Hoshigumi."

Yoh's dark orbs suddenly grew wide, "Oh? _Really_?" he said, in a playful surprise. Either it was feigned or not, nobody could tell. "Anna got it from Hoshigumi? Hmm…wonder if they're fine…."

"Yoh-dono?" Amidamaru asked. He couldn't see whether his master was talking about the change in schedule and place of the fight or the Hoshigumi. Somehow, it got him worried but he didn't know why.

"Then, we'll meet you guys there. I'll go get Ren and Horo." With those words, the spirit disintegrated, vanished in an instant. "Ren! Horo horo!" Yoh called, walking in his customary slacked position.

"What?"

But Yoh didn't answer quickly. He had just spotted a mirror on the way, showing his face in full view. He approached the said item then smiled his best, letting out a couple of laughs, then turned the mirror around so that he couldn't see his reflection anymore.

"What is it, Yoh? We've been waiting here for almost an hour. Don't tell me anything stupid like you've suddenly become a narcissist." Ren muttered, irritated by the wait.

Acting like he didn't hear the comment, Yoh smiled brightly then said, "Oh, Amidamaru just came by and told me that your match's gonna be held at the arena." He explained, "There was some problem with the Oracle bell that's why they couldn't send the message."

"Oh." Chocolove shrugged his shoulders, "That's okay. The match is held tomorrow, right?" Voices of agreements followed him.

Yoh shook his head, slowly, and then shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. But Amidamaru said that Anna said that she got from a Hoshigumi member by force – makes you wonder if they're alright, ne?"

"Just get to the point." Ren mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Your match will be held in…uh…30 minutes. They changed the time as well. Come to think of it, the arena is on the other side of town. You'll be late and disqualified." Yoh beamed then added, "_Really._" Seeing the doubtful faces of the duo in front of him.

"OH SHIT!!!!" The two chorused, racing each other to the arena.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"WHY THE FREAKIN' HELL DIDN'T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THI S CHANGE?!?!?!?!?!?!"

"HOW THE HELL COULD I?!?!?! YOU WERE TOO BUSY TRYING TO CHOP MY HEAD OFF!!!!" screamed the Ainu in return, "Besides, I didn't know it either. The Oracle bell is a defect." he tapped the device, "Next time, you'll see newspapers flashing headlines like 'The Ren Team Defeated By Disqualification'."

"If you would've been a _more_ peaceful companion, then _I_ would've found out about this change before we got into this big mess!" spat the Chinese shaman, both of them running towards the arena.

"Look what kind of peaceful person is talking!" Horo snorted then coughed.

"Shut up."

"No…_you_ shut up!"

Yoh turned to Chocolove, "But I think it's the guardians' fault for not telling them. Something must've happened that didn't let them get to your team. But isn't Silva reliable with these?" he explained, still smiling. His smile grew bigger when he noticed that the other wasn't listening at all. _Can't do anything about that…as of now._

"Hey! We're already here!" interrupted Chocolove, jumping in between the two shamans. He pointed his finger, waving vigorously and exclaimed, "Oh, look! They're about to start now. We're late and we'll be disqualified!"

"NANDA'TO?!?!?!" Horo horo and Ren looked at each other in disbelief, eyes growing wider than saucers.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" asked Chocolove, acting a little innocent than he should be.

Without saying another word, the two constantly fighting shamans linked their arms to Chocolove's and dragged him towards the arena with unbelievable speed.

"Where? What way? Are we late? Are we disqualified? Are we _lost_? Hey…where's Yoh?" Horo horo looked around, trying to spot their friend but there was no one in that hallway but them.

"Stop asking questions and speed up!" Ren grumbled then pulled his members into one passage.

A bright flash of light greeted their eyes. The vague radio-like noise slowly cleared into the sound of a cheering crowd. And the white sheets formed into numerous lights.

"And the Ren team has finally arrived!" echoed the amplified voice of Krum.

The cheering grew loud. The Ren team could distinguish a few shouts of complains from the few supporters of the Hoshigumi.

Krum approached then and asked, "Hey, what took you so long? I've been trying to delay the crowd here for nearly an hour! They were on the verge of throwing tomatoes at me!"

"Uh…Oracle bell problems. We weren't informed of the change." The Ainu explained, trying to lighten the situation to no a due.

The guardian shrugged his shoulders then went back to his former place. _What happened to Silva?_ "The fight will now start! Thank you for giving us your patience!" with one swift move of his hand, the two teams got into position. "BEGIN!"

"Yoh! Right here!"

Asakura Yoh jerked his head left and right looking for the source of Manta's voice. He quickly saw his friends waving vigorously to catch his attention then waved back, grinning as usual.

"Hey, what happened? Ren and the others are late! They were about to be disqualified!" Manta exclaimed as Yoh squeezed himself between Anna and him.

The shaman shrugged his shoulders, "They said they never got the change of schedule. Wonder what happened." He said as though speaking to himself. "Oh, look, Hoshigumi seems like they're in a hurry." He sighed, "Actually, they look kinda desperate." _When will these guys ever learn?_

"Uh…but isn't-"

"Ren's team? Don't worry about them. They'll never let themselves lose."

"What's the matter? The _oh-so-great_ Hoshigumi is losing their touch? But then again, you were never a match for us." The Ainu grinned, sending one stream of icicles towards Blocken.

Blocken jumped out of the way, looking like he evaded the attack completely but when he looked, his right leg was completely frozen. He remained motionless and summoned his mochirei once again. He pointed to Horo horo, and the Lego dinosaur rushed towards his opponent, attacking continuously.

"Things would be better _and_ easier if you stopped blabbing at started fighting, baka." Grumbled their team leader, easily destroying Turbine's furyoku and, at the same time, sending a paralyzing attack towards his foe.

A blur appeared in front of the Ainu, destroying the mochirei of his opponent.

"Hey~!!! That was _my_ fight!"

The blur stopped, "Ah, gomen." Chocolove bowed, "Didn't see you there."

"Sheesh, if you were going at _that_ speed, at least learn to control it!" the Ainu scolded, shaking his head in irritation.

"Don't ignore us! We're still here and this battle ain't finished yet!"

"What? You're still here? Why don't you just quit? It'll be easier, ya know." Horo horo suggested, Chocolove backing him up.

Ren swung his sword to his shoulder, "Don't waste your breath. These guys don't listen to anyone but Hao. Unfortunately, without that bastard, they can't do anything right." He grinned, "That's why they'll lose to us no matter what."

"Hao-sama…" muttered Hoshigumi, "Hao-sama will come back. We know he will and we're gonna clear his path towards the Seirei no Ou. And that means getting rid of _you_!" the group flashed a bright light and summoned the best of their oversouls, the fullest extent of their furyoku.

"At last! Something exciting!" the Ainu grinned, looking at both of his teammates. They shrugged their shoulders then created oversouls as well, summoning the gigantic versions of their mochirei.

Yoh yawned, stretched his arms then stood up.

"Yoh-dono?" asked the samurai spirit, "The fight is not yet finished. I don't think it's good to leave yet."

The shaman grinned, "Iie, I just got a little thirsty. I'm gonna go get something to drink. Anyone want to come?" he offered, looking at his friends, "You, Anna? Want something?"

The itako looked at him. "Water, just water." She threw her itako beads towards Amidamaru, "Just be sure to get it. Don't mislead yourself."

Yoh sweat dropped, "Uh…yeah…. Bye. Gomen, Amidamaru."

"No offense to Hoshigumi but it was sure that they'll loose the battle from the very start. I don't know what's their problem but they're completely useless now." Matilda sighed, "If Hao-sama was still here, we'd get through every battle with ease."

"Their problem is that they don't have enough faith in Hao-sama. _That's_ the reason why they're losing right now. They look – no, they _are_ desperate and pathetic." Kanna grumbled, shaking her head in dismay.

Matilda grinned, "Better not let Zang Ching or Turbine hear that. Who knows what'll happen?" she said then started laughing with their leader.

Then Marion, who was walking in front of them, stopped at the corner.

"Hey, what's with the sudden stop?"

"Yoh-sama." The blonde muttered.

The other members of Hanagumi looked at each other then rushed to Marion's side. "Hao-sama…."

Yoh crouched down, taking the drinks he bought from the vending machine. He glanced at Hanagumi then smiled, "Yo."

"Ah…well…isn't the fight still going on? What are you doing here, Yoh-sama?" asked Matilda in earnest, approaching Yoh.

Again, the Asakura grinned, "Well…it's just that…." He looked at the girls uneasily, "Don't tell Hoshigumi, okay? But…well…Ren's team will win the battle now. I don't need to watch anymore. Besides, I was thirsty." He shrugged his shoulders, showing the bottles he had in his hands. "The other one's for Anna."

Matilda laughed, carrying on the conversation with ease, "Yeah, that's right. That battle was theirs in the first place. Hoshigumi never had a chance." She swung her arms behind her head.

Kanna shook her head, "Good going, Matilda."

"What? What did I say?"

"Ah, speaking of battles…" Yoh eyed Marion then the other two, "I couldn't talk about this in front of Anna…. Uh, well, the battle between us, you know, uh, about two weeks ago…" he shrugged his shoulders then grinned, "Gomen…you lost…"

"Yeah, ain't that obvious?" Matilda rolled her eyes.

"…on purpose."

The redhead's eyes grew wide then quickly shook her head in denial, "No! We didn't! You were just too strong for us! Ne? Ne? Marion? Kanna????" but the rest of Hanagumi just nodded in agreement.

"It's no use. We can't hide it from Yoh-sama." Marion said, shaking her head.

"It's not nice to just let yourselves lose, you know. You should give your best in everything you try. It'd be more fun. Besides-"

"Yoh! Hey, Yoh! Where are you???"

"Ah, gomen nasai, I think I've taken too much of your time. I need to go now. Bye!" the dark-haired shaman waved then dashed away from them.

Hanagumi could clearly hear the complaints of Yoh's group, why he left the battle, Anna and the bottle of water. The voices slowly died down as the group went farther away from them. Matilda shrugged her shoulders then turned around.

"WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH~!!!!!!"

"Why? What's wrong? Matilda?" Kanna jerked her head to the redhead, who ended up laughing and wheezing.

"Geez, don't jump on me like that, guys. You're scary. And by the looks of it, you've been beat up pretty bad." The redhead shrugged her shoulders, turning her back on the Hoshigumi. "What about that mission thingy? You completely failed, flunked, drowned, whatever!"

"You don't have to rub it in their faces, Matilda. The mission was to clear Hao-sama's path _not_ win the battle." Marion said, looking past the three beaten shamans, "I think Opacho will have a solution for this."

Matilda scowled, crossing her arms in her usual pouting, "You don't have to tell me that. _Of course_ I know that. It doesn't hurt having a li'l bit of fun with them." 

The young shaman appeared from behind Hoshigumi, squeezing himself inside the circle. At that instant, the mood of the group changed, "Hao-sama is stronger than Ren's team."

"But to be sure of Hao-sama's win," Kanna lit up a cigarette, "We'll stop them. We'll stop Ren's team. And the rest is," the Hanagumi leader turned to the rest of the group, "up to Hao-sama."

  


* * *

Before the _real_ a/n: Eep!!!! Why does this chapter have too many curses!!! ACK!!! I'm gonna die!!! >_ 

Forgive me if Hanagumi AND Hoshigumi are OOC (yeah, don't deny the inevitable truth…at least, I think so >_ 

For those who don't know, Hoshigumi members that I picked are: **Turbine** (the weird Arabian Nights guy whose spirit is a genie. In the anime, he has that ring thingy that he uses like a gun blah blah wherein some light rope-like thing emerges), **Blocken** (the Lego kid of the group, the one who wears a cloak all the time, his oversoul is some dinosaur made up of Lego bricks from rat spirits) and, lastly, **Zang Ching** (Chinese, fat guy, panda man; I've already described him, mind you.)

How do I know those? Ha! I have unbelievable memory span! I can remember everything! NOT! Of course, I did some research! But I still don't know if they're still alive. If not, then let's pretend they are. And, I know they're not the original Hoshigumi; they were randomly chosen by author-dearest (I wanted to put Ashil but he's dead. Good thing Blocken's still there!)

Anyway…

What does Pirika call Anna and Yoh????? And…uh…well…this is the first time I used Horo's real name because I was getting tired of having a limited set of titles for that particular Ainu.

P.S. Hehehehe…I'm an irresponsible li'l author…. I've already created two fics (each a one-shot), completely neglecting this one. And, right now, I've created one chapter of another Mankin fic I plan to post after this one. Can't I just drop this project?

~SILENCE~

*gets thrown by fruits of all sorts including a few bombs and stones here and there*

Hey~!!!! Okay!!!! I was just kidding!!!! I'm not stupid enough to give up on a fic!!! I plan to finish this that's for sure because I love my ending.

Ah, and good news, school's finished! Which means, this story will be finished pretty soon as well! Yay! 

Okie dokie, see ya next chappie. Ah, and the next chapter is entitled "Flames". Nothing more to say ^_^


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